Sometimes bad memes happen to decent people, and unfortunately that appears to be the case for Minnesota Democratic Senate candidate Richard Painter, who got a little too literal with the ol' "dumpster fire" joke. Speaking in front of a flaming trash receptacle, Painter informs his would-be constituents that "some people see a dumpster fire and do nothing but watch the spectacle. Some are too scared to face the danger, or they think it will benefit them if they let it keep on burning."
With a truly astonishing lack of humor, Painter then reveals that while there is an "inferno raging in Washington … here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, we know how to put out a fire." This proclamation is accompanied by a literal cascade of water mercilessly extinguishing the metaphor.
Try to watch with as straight a face as Painter's, below. Jeva Lange