President Obama has found yet another secret superpower of his office: renaming stuff.
The Obama administration tweeted Sunday that the president had signed an executive order stripping Alaska’s Mount McKinley of its century-old name and redubbing it Denali.
In 1917, the United States recognized the mountain’s name — given in 1896 in honor of President William McKinley. Since 1975, Alaska officials have made sporadic attempts to have the mountain officially named Denali, its Native American appellation for many generations (and what most Alaskans call the peak anyway). In a compromise, the National Park Service called the area surrounding the mountain Denali National Park and Preserve, but the mountain remained McKinley.
Until Friday, when the man with a pen and a phone issued his decree.
Ohio, McKinley’s birthplace, is a swing state in the 2016 election, and since Obama is not running, he doesn’t seem to care that the state loses its bragging rights over North America’s tallest mountain.
“The mountain has spoken,” the Department of the Interior tweeted.
The mountain has spoken ? Mt McKinley officially renamed Denali: http://t.co/VSN2vl7yZo Congrats, Alaska! pic.twitter.com/ZdRTJ2PEHL
— US Dept of Interior (@Interior) August 30, 2015
A few twitter users couldn’t resist the urge to comment on the name and the speaking mountain.
@Interior @WhiteHouse is it the official policy of the US government that mountains can talk — ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ ɔʇ (@chillmage) August 30, 2015
@Interior @blakehounshell They named it after a pickup truck?
— Steven Metz (@steven_metz) August 30, 2015
Liberals tweeted that Ohio can still have its Mount McKinley—just on a different peak.
Dramatic vista from the highest peak in Ohio, which we could rename after Pres. McKinley? https://t.co/eaNvqeuKrw pic.twitter.com/p1SQi4EmXB
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) August 30, 2015
The larger question is that after 40 years of haggling, how is it that Obama can so easily (and arrogantly) do whatever he wants?
@Interior Surprised Dear Leader didn’t name it “Obama”
— Rschrim (@Rschrim) August 30, 2015
@Interior gotta get those Republican names off of stuff. The King hath spoken; not the mountain.
— American Tweeter (@DoomsDaddy) August 30, 2015
@Interior @BarackObama you have no shame. May God have mercy on your pitiful arrogant soul. Truly a narcissist.
— Kingdom Mystic (@ewbuchholz) August 31, 2015
@ClutzMuffin Didn’t you get Barry’s Dictator handbook?
— db (@dbocny) August 30, 2015
Does that mean the next president can rename national icons too?
Can’t wait for the next president to rename Denali “Mt. Trump, the Classiest, Hugest Mountain there is. Everest is garbage.”
— Jeff Fecke (@jkfecke) August 30, 2015
Obviously, the appropriate Trump response to the McKinley/Denali news is to promise to rename Antarctica if elected.
— Yair Rosenberg (@Yair_Rosenberg) August 30, 2015
Trump gonna rename Mt McKinley to Mt Trump
— Coach Jason (@BayAreaFan4) August 31, 2015
President Obama is renaming Mt. McKinley to “Denali.” Meanwhile, Donald Trump says he’ll rename it the Nobama Pleasure Peak.
— Mike Roe (@MikeRoe) August 30, 2015
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