Spicer on 'covfefe': 'The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant'

A midnight tweet left social media bemused for the several hours it was up.

ByABC News
May 31, 2017, 11:24 AM

— -- Donald Trump's latest Twitter salvo was perhaps his most confusing to date.

"Despite the constant negative press covfefe," the president inexplicably wrote just after midnight.

And that was it for nearly six hours before the unfinished tweet was removed from the president's account. It was replaced in the morning with Trump’s own attempt to get in on the social media bewilderment over the word he coined.

"Who can figure out the true meaning of 'covfefe' ??? Enjoy!" he tweeted.

In the meantime, Twitter had been set alight with a slew of bemused reactions to what most presumed was a typo of "coverage," and the legend of "covfefe" was born.

Asked about the meaning behind the president's cryptic tweet at Wednesday's press briefing, press secretary Sean Spicer said, "The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant."

Spicer's response was met with laughter from the White House press corps.

Overnight, #covfefe was trending on Twitter, and the original tweet has been retweeted more than 105,000 times and received more than 148,000 likes.

Memes were born anew.

The social media reaction even spawned a battle of newly formed fantasy characters, battling for the throne of #covfefe.

The Twitter reactions prompted secondary trending topics like Urban Dictionary, which was among the most-discussed topics on Twitter as users took to the crowdsourced internet dictionary to provide definitions for the new term.

Merriam-Webster, the dictionary publisher with a notably snarky Twitter feed, also got in on the action, albeit briefly.

In addition to the dictionary, some others who are known to troll Trump -- on social media, like former President Obama official photographer Pete Souza, and in court, like the American Civil Liberties Union -- also seized the opportunity to have another laugh.

Even Hillary Clinton, Trump's former Democratic presidential rival, got in on the usage of "covfefe."

Trump tweeted Wednesday night, "Crooked Hillary Clinton now blames everybody but herself, refuses to say she was a terrible candidate. Hits Facebook & even Dems & DNC."

Clinton's response? "People in covfefe houses shouldn't throw covfefe."

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