Brian Krassenstein, one of two brothers who rose to viral fame via facile, curt responses to President Donald Trump’s tweets, is under fire after a post suggesting the president needs to be put “to sleep.”
In a Christmas Eve missive, Krassenstein aped language Trump used about Stephen Colbert in a Truth Social post — albeit without the context that made Trump’s post passable — to imply that the 47th president needed to go by means one could reasonably speculate on.
“Trump is a dead man walking,” Krassenstein wrote on Christmas Eve.
“America should ‘put him to sleep,’ NOW. “It is the humanitarian thing to do.”
Trump is a dead man walking.
America should “put him to sleep,” NOW. It is the humanitarian thing to do.
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) December 24, 2025
After numerous X users called him out for what seemed to be a dog-whistle (or just whistle, really) toward murderous revolt against the freely elected leader of these United States, Krassenstein insisted he was “not calling for violence against Trump of any kind.”
Hey @elonmusk , I am for free speech, but trying to call for the murder of the US President crosses a line I would think. https://t.co/AonN0mV6kF
— John Adams (@John_S_Adams) December 25, 2025
Why is this trash not banned from X? https://t.co/zSJalQixoe
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) December 24, 2025
This is his pinned post. This guy needs a visit from the secret service and he needs to be investigated. https://t.co/8jogSMV3oX pic.twitter.com/exoYGzz6ci
— David Karim (@davidkarim) December 24, 2025
“I am 100% against violence. I am also 100% for pointing out the hypocrisy of MAGA. Happy Holidays!” he wrote.
The “hypocrisy,” such as it was, involved a Christmas Eve Truth Social post Trump made about Stephen Colbert, the CBS late night host whose show is going the way of the dodo soon, and probably should have gone extinct a long time ago anyhow.
The amount of outcry over this post that I merely used Trump’s own words for, says everything you need to know about MAGA. pic.twitter.com/vU2JBeN8Qc
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) December 25, 2025
“Stephen Colbert is a pathetic trainwreck, with no talent or anything else necessary for show business success,” Trump wrote. “Now, after being terminated by CBS, but left out to dry, he has actually gotten worse, along with his nonexistent ratings. Stephen is running on hatred and fumes ~ A dead man walking! CBS should, ‘put him to sleep,’ NOW, it is the humanitarian thing to do!”
There are two problems with the equivalency aside from the obvious — which is that, while no Trump supporter would go out and try and put Colbert “to sleep” literally, plenty of Krassenstein’s fellow travelers on the left not only might consider attempting it, but at least two have, and gotten credibly close to ending Trump’s life in the process.
The first problem is the context of the language being used by both men. A late night host, particularly one whose contract is expiring and whose show is apparently burning money like a cash-powered blast furnace, has an easy way to be removed from his position: CBS just tells him not to come into work on Monday and puts on a replacement show that would be more watchable, like “Is it Quiche? Celebrity Edition” or “Carrot Top Reads from the Works of David Foster Wallace,” in its place.
Given that, and the fact his show is about to be yanked anyway, it’s not especially difficult to grasp what the president means when calls Colbert a “dead man walking” or suggests CBS “put him to sleep” early. It’s clearly metaphorical.
Donald Trump, meanwhile, doesn’t have to worry about his current job status, since he can neither be elected to the position again nor removed from it absent an extremely unlikely set of circumstances before January 2029.
However, the most likely of these circumstances that could theoretically come to pass? Violent death or incapacitation, which the left (again) has tried twice already. In this case, the context of Krassenstein’s remarks is not metaphorical, because the circumstances in which those metaphors can be employed in Trump’s situation don’t actually exist.
Brian thought he was using Trump’s TRUTH post against MAGA, where Trump called Colbert a “dead man walking” due to his ratings being so low, but it is not even REMOTELY similar.
The only recourse the “American people” could fire a sitting president is THROUGH VIOLENCE.
Trump… pic.twitter.com/3egfnqLENr
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 24, 2025
Second, this isn’t the only time one of the Krassenstein brothers has flirted with suborning political violence to garner viral attention, and it’s fast becoming a consistent throughline for how they’ll be avoiding irrelevancy during Trump’s second term.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Brian and Ed Krassenstein — and I do envy you, but here your blissful ignorance must be spoiled — they effectively act as a unit which monetizes social media trolling of Republicans in general and Trump in particular. This somehow vaulted them to the upper echelon of Democratic influencers back in the 2010s — kind of like a proto-Jennifer Welch, only without a phalanx of second-rate plastic surgeons on payroll.
After years of acquiring unearned clout with punchy, thought-unimpaired replies to Trump’s posts, usually posted within seconds after the original tweet, they were banned by Twitter for operating fake accounts. (And this was in the bad old days, when Twitter execs were somewhere to the left of Ibram X. Kendi, so you have to imagine whatever the Krassensteins were trying to get away with was really flagrant.)
Their accounts were eventually reinstated under Elon Musk’s ownership, but they’ve not managed to recapture the online zeitgeist in the way they once held it. So, instead of wannabe pithiness, they’ve resorted to newer tactics. Among them: shock-posting via thinly veiled calls for violence.
After former FBI Director James Comey got himself into hot water for an “86 47” post on Instagram — which he wisely deleted, since 86’ing the 47th president of the United States would require his impeachment and removal or death, and the former isn’t going to happen — Ed Krassenstein decided to jump right back into the scalding pot, because clicks are clicks:
James Comey is right
8647 is the way to go!
It should become the new rallying call for Americans who are sick and tired of the US Constitution being torn up.
It should be a rallying call for Americans who are fed up with the current administration’s corruption.
The right… https://t.co/9a6BiczLYu
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) May 15, 2025
That was, to use a bowdlerized version of a popular acronym, the “fooling around” point. And here’s where he “found out.”
I literally just had the Secret Service at my house. More details in a minute.
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) May 16, 2025
To all of the Trump supporters who want to pretend this isn’t happening and I’m making this up. Here is the video.
They called me at my gate in my neighborhood. I thought it was a hoax because I figured they would have been able to get into the gate, so I walked over to make… pic.twitter.com/3bsHhRGdTu
— Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) May 17, 2025
More’s the pity.
And yes, this may be a different Krassenstein brother, but that makes no material difference; I’m not sure even they can tell each other apart in looks, thoughts, or deeds, and the average observer certainly can’t.
Moreover, they’ve actively encouraged this confusion by acting as a unit in their social media shenanigans. Now, both of them have effectively called for removal of the current president by any means necessary. Then, when it backfired spectacularly, they insisted it was all just for the lulz and you should really learn to appreciate their finely honed satire.
Whatever. I’d suggest asking Ed for some tips on how to handle the Secret Service, Brian; there’s a not-insignificant chance you’ll need the advice. You may not see the connection, but the feds are all too aware that Shakespeare’s famous maxim still holds: “These violent delights have violent ends.”
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