Donald Trump Supporter's 'Mazel Tov Cocktail' Comment Delights Twitter
A supporter appears to have confused "Molotov" with "mazel tov."
— -- How is the 2016 election different from all others? For one, it has gotten “mazel tov” to trend on Twitter.
The reason: Donald Trump supporter Scottie Nell Hughes, critiquing rapper Jay Z on CNN on Sunday night, alleged that one of his videos starts “with a crowd throwing mazel tov cocktails.” The phrase is, obviously, “Molotov cocktails,” makeshift bombs made of lit rags, gasoline and glass bottles, as host Don Lemon pointed out a few moments later.
Twitter took notice. “Mazel tov,” a Jewish expression of congratulations or good luck, has been tweeted about almost 18,000 times since late Sunday and was averaging more than 4,000 tweets per hour on Monday afternoon.
So what is a “mazel tov cocktail”? Merriam-Webster, for one, has no idea:
No, we have no idea what a "mazel tov cocktail" is.
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) November 7, 2016
A few amateur mixologists tried their hands at a “mazel tov cocktail” recipe:
Mazel Tov cocktail recipe:
One part vodka
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) November 7, 2016
Two parts tonic water
Dash of Manishevitz
Copious tears from parents upset at your life choices.
Any Mazel Tov cocktail recipe that doesn't include at least a dash of bitters is culturally illiterate.
— Gary Legum (@GaryLegum) November 7, 2016
At least one political commentator saw the malapropism as a “funny rather than scary way to explain to future generations what this election was about.”
I cherish the Mazel Tov cocktail mistake: it’s a funny rather than scary way to explain to future generations what this election was about
— David Frum (@davidfrum) November 7, 2016
It was not the first time “mazel tov” and “Molotov” have been confused in political life. The Capital Times reported in 2014 about a letter, revealed by the release of documents in a John Doe lawsuit, in which Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker wrote to a Jewish constituent, "Thank you again and Molotov."