The Slatest

Trump Gets Pwned Big Time by Ben Carson on New York Times Bestseller List

Donald Trump and Ben Carson
Ben Carson and Donald Trump at the Fox Business Network Republican presidential debate on Nov. 10, 2015 in Milwaukee.

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Ben Carson has passed or caught Donald Trump in the polls both nationally and in Iowa, and Trump is a little touchy about it, having in recent days made a number of disparaging references to Carson’s questionable claim to have been a violent teen:

Carson’s campaign has struck back by calling Trump “desperate.”

It’s within this context that Trump’s new book Crippled America, released last Tuesday, is facing off against Carson’s book A More Perfect Union, which came out last month, on the New York Times bestseller list. The first Times list that will compare Trump’s book to Carson’s hasn’t come out yet—but BuzzFeed’s McKay Coppins got an advance copy. And:

Trump’s new book, Crippled America, will debut on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction bestseller list at #5 …

… one spot below Carson’s book, A More Perfect Union.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH [runs around screaming like someone who has just seen a crazy basketball play]

It gets worse for the Donald:

Carson’s performance on the Times list is particularly impressive given that his book has already been out for more than a month: This will be A More Perfect Union’s fifth week as a bestseller. By contrast, Crippled America is benefitting from the surge of publicity and sales that typically accompany a book’s first week on the shelves.

And yet: still behind Carson. That is what the young folks call getting pwned