Donald Trump, in a speech where he said “yo-Semites” when he meant to say “Yosemite’s.” Image by Screenshot from Twitter

By PJ Grisar August 4, 2020

In an August 4 speech at the White House, President Trump was invoking the beauty of our national parks when he stumbled on the words “Yosemite’s towering sequoias.” He said “yo-Semites,” to which we say: “Hi!”

Jewish Twitter, naturally, had a field day.

In honor of this momentous occasion of national visibility — and our previously unknown ownership of some mighty impressive arbors — we have produced a novelty rap to mark the occasion, which, on the nakhes-o-meter far surpasses even Jonathan Swan’s impressive interview with the president last night. Without further ado, the “Yo Semites Rap.”

(Verse to the tune of this Ronald Reagan rap)

Yo, Semites, have you heard the news?
The Pres gave us a mention — but he didn’t mean Jews.
There at a White House event today
Trump said some words he didn’t mean to say_

Honoring Yosemite’s mighty sequoias
He said “Yo-Semites,” and now for the chorus:

(Chorus and bridge to the tune of Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise”)

We’ve been spending most of our lives living like yo-Semites
Wearing the t-shirt right living like yo-Semites
Those national parks are tight when you’re a yo-Semite

Tell me why is he so blind to see
That that was an apostrophe?
Tell me are we so blind to see
That Trump just meant to praise those trees?
Tell me is this a Jewish victory?
We’ll take the win with dignity.

PJ Grisar is the Forward’s culture reporter. He can be reached at Grisar@Forward.com.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.

This year, we have stood together in strength and sorrow. Our Forward team has worked around the clock to help you find clarity amid the chaos.

If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.

Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism. 

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount