'America first,' as Europe tussles for second
February 3, 2017
In a casting show style they may hope appeals to the TV star-turned-US president, several European countries have broadcast videos attempting to persuade Donald Trump to give them second billing after "America first."
It started last week with a viral video from the Netherlands: "We totally understand it's going to be America first. But can we just say: The Netherlands second?" After all, the Netherlands' "orange" history and lax tax rules make it the ideal candidate, according to the comedian behind the video, Arjen Lubach.
In the space of a week, the video gathered more than 17 million views.
Now broadcasters from across Europe are sending out their own satirical video messages to Trump and collecting them online at everysecondcounts.eu.
German comedian Jan Böhmermann broadcast Germany's satirical appeal to Trump on Thursday. The video tried to impress the US president by touting the fact that Germany hosted "the best world wars," built a "great German wall" while making the Russians pay for it, and then cried when it was torn down by David Hasselhof.
Böhmermann made headlines last year - and prompted an international incident - after he read a lewd poem about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
This Swiss, meanwhile, promoted their "big, fat mountains," while the Portuguese talked up their "huge, enormous beaches."
Other contributions so far include Denmark, Belgium and Lithuania.
Every Second Counts announced on its Twitter feed that Luxembourg and Slovakia will be the next countries to post their pitches to the president.
dm/sms (AP, Every Second Counts)