The Dallas Stars Trolled Sean Spicer and Donald Trump with a Fake Attendance Number

And so it begins…

The Dallas Stars kicked off the nationwide delegitimization of the White House Press Office with a fake attendance figure that seems like it flew right out of Sean Spicer’s mouth.

Stars may not always win on the ice, but they always win above it.

(Pic via @unlikelyfanatic) pic.twitter.com/C4KdO5SaQZ

— Allison Currie (@AlleyDalley) January 22, 2017

The American Airlines Center in Dallas has a capacity of about 20,000. But that’s not all folks…

Update to this- my man @tweetgrubes played Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down when this was on the board.
Amazing. I love my @DallasStarshttps://t.co/QQoGoWOAhf

— Allison Currie (@AlleyDalley) January 22, 2017

Just unbelievable trolling by the Dallas Stars. As much as the Women’s March did to undercut the authority of our new president, things like this do it perhaps even more (in response to nonsense like what Spicer peddled). When we’re marching, we’re making a conscious decision to engage in politics, and that blunts its effectiveness, as we are announcing our bias. Hockey games are an escape from that world, and humor is the best normalizing agent we have. Injecting it into moments like these has devastating consequences for any despot, as their illegitimacy becomes a part of our subconscious. It’s why authoritarians always ban satirists before books: humor naturally exposes fraud.

Jacob Weindling is Paste’s business and media editor, as well as a staff writer for politics. Follow him on Twitter at @Jakeweindling.