Millions of Nintendo fans on Twitter were horrified earlier today when they learned precisely why Mario Kart was trending on the popular social media platform, and that it had nothing to do with a new edition of the popular racing video game series.
It all began with an appearance by adult film actress Stormy Daniels on The View to promote her upcoming tell-all book Full Disclosure. Daniels became a national name following a federal investigation into claims that she had an affair with President Donald Trump, and that his lawyer, Michael Cohen, had violated campaign finance laws by paying Daniels $130,000 in hush money in order to keep the story quiet leading up the 2016 election. Trump initially denied advance knowledge of Cohen's payment to Daniels - although a conversation recorded without his consent by Cohen would later prove otherwise - and says the affair didn't happen. Daniels contends that the affair did happen, and is currently suing Trump for defamation of character after he called her a liar.
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Huffington Post reported on Daniels' interview, and the resulting turmoil online after she compared a portion of President Trump's anatomy to “the mushroom character in Mario Kart.” The site also re-posted the colorful responses of many other Twitter users, and their horrified reactions after they discovered why Toad and Mario Kart were trending topics. Making this all the more darkly comedic was the amusing response from Nintendo Life's Twitter account, which can be viewed below.
Posting an image of a smiling Toad in response to the above news only served to make an already uncomfortable situation worse. It was clear that whoever was running Nintendo Life's account at the time had not checked to see precisely why Toad and Mario Kart were currently trending. To their credit, the site later posted a tongue-in-cheek apology of sorts for their mistake, which also took a shot at Trump.
When business mogul and reality TV show host Trump moved into the White House in 2017, it was presumed by many that there would be an uptick in strange news tied to the American presidency. It seems unlikely, however, that anyone could've foreseen Nintendo, Toad and Mario Kart being referenced as part of an investigation into financial misappropriation and a presidential sex scandal. It would be tempting to declare this the strangest story Screen Rant will ever publish, but we see no reason to hand Fate so obvious a set-up.
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Sources: Huffington Post, Nintendo Life