【2022 Archives】

So President Donald Trump022 Archivesstill planning to build that wall, it's going to be a big wall, and he wants to make Mexico, scratch that, the American consumer, pay for it.

The proposed wall, which started as a giant insult but will now be a physical barrier along the U.S. and Mexico border, is going to cost a huge amount of money: $12 to $15 billion. Trump has repeatedly said he will make Mexico fund it and on Thursday afternoon his administration floated a less direct idea: a 20 percent tax on imports from Mexico.

SEE ALSO: All the times the former president of Mexico shut down Trump's 'f*cking wall'

If that tax were imposed, it would be way more difficult -- and way more expensive for regular Americans -- to get Mexican imports, among other potential problems. According to the U.S. Trade Representative website, Mexico was "the third largest supplier of goods imported in 2015."

The Trump tax, which is not yet a policy proposal, would apply to things produced in Mexico like vehicles, machinery, fruit, vegetables and perhaps even some of Trump's own suits. But the main thing people on Twitter seemed concerned with? The avocado.

On Thursday, avocados became a rallying point for jokes on Twitter as people tried to cope with an economically and diplomatically troubling idea.

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Because if you didn't laugh, you'd cry.

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This will seriously become the first locus of political outrage over Mexican trade: guacamole shortages at Chipotle.

— Josh Barro (@jbarro) January 26, 2017

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The attention on the beloved and already expensive fruit is not new: It made cameos on viral post-election protest signs that took aim at America's racial divide.

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Of course, avocados are far from the real problem here. To start, there's the potential economic impact of a trade feud with Mexico alongside disastrous humanitarian implications.

But maybe the protesters were right, sad as it is -- threaten the almighty avocado and people pay attention.

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Here's a clip of Kellyanne Conway's previous (and mercifully brief) career in stand-up comedy

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Topics Donald Trump Immigration

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