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Day one of the Tournament of Champions on Jeopardy! left viewers speechless after none of the contestants were able to answer a question connected to President Donald Trump.
Adding to the shock was the fact the cream of the crop was in the running.
Emma Boettcher—who beat James Holzhauer and ended his impressive 32-game winning streak back in June 2019—chose the category "Lawyers, Law & Legality" for $800.
The clue was:
"This lawyer's star rose while repping Stormy Daniels but fell after he was accused of trying to extort millions from Nike in 2019."
Watching the stumped contestants—which included Francois Barcomb—became the proverbial record scratch that stunned viewers.
Wow. I’m honestly surprised none of the contestants buzzed in. https://t.co/L7UFeVtwtR— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@Yashar Ali 🐘)1573780347.0
Host Alex Trebek eventually provided the answer.
"His name, quickly forgotten obviously, Michael Avenatti."
@yashar They just wanted to give Alex Trebek the opportunity to drag Avenatti.— Paul 👻 (@Paul 👻)1573780664.0
@yashar Ouch. That Trebek shade...— Dianne Gallagher (@Dianne Gallagher)1573781962.0
@yashar Trebek with the BURRRRRNNNNNNN— Alexa Klein (@Alexa Klein)1573782035.0
For those who have been living under a rock, Michael Avenatti was the attorney who represented adult-film writer, producer and actress Stormy Daniels in her lawsuits against Donald Trump. Avenatti was later indicted for tax evasion, extortion, fraud and embezzlement.
Twitter quickly responded to the lack of knowledge of somewhat current affairs.
@TessaJeanMiller @yashar I just got so jealous of some life where you don’t know who he is. Gonna go mourn my wasted time.— Miss Alissa (@Miss Alissa)1573780798.0
@yashar He’s gonna be so pissed no one knew his name.— (((AG))) (@(((AG))))1573780496.0
Watching all three Jeopardy Tournament of Champion finalists unable to remember fame-whore Michael Avenatti’s name… https://t.co/XBEgqk2vFE— Adam Sacks (@Adam Sacks)1573779659.0
Ignorance is bliss.
Look at James Holzhauer’s face. This guy is a trivia master. The depth and breadth of his knowledge is incredible.… https://t.co/Sv2gtpCcc5— Adam Sacks (@Adam Sacks)1573780467.0
@yashar honestly I envy these people so much— 🧐🎄 (@🧐🎄)1573780712.0
@yashar The joy of missing that news cycle...— Sophie Vershbow (@Sophie Vershbow)1573780652.0
Others backed the contestants, saying it's hard to keep up with all the news of corruption tangentially related to Trump, let alone politics depicted on social media.
@AdamSacks I couldn't remember it either-to be fair, there's a new Trump scandal every 3 days so it's hard to keep track.— Tara Curry (@Tara Curry)1573832012.0
@yashar There stands a trio of civilized nobles whose massive bookshelves are free of the plebian prose that is con… https://t.co/71x59Semrq— Jason Wang (@Jason Wang)1573781554.0
@yashar to me this shows that these above average intellegence people do not care about the pettiness of American b… https://t.co/MQRiXxlE5l— Larry McIntosh (@Larry McIntosh)1573781750.0
@yashar These nerds don't follow Trump saga news. https://t.co/bNMCUAeeEF— 🌽The korny Life of Sissi 🦃 (@🌽The korny Life of Sissi 🦃)1573785265.0
A lot has happened since Avenatti was even in the news.
@yashar https://t.co/J8o4hxhVSx— æ (@æ)1573780730.0
@yashar Avenatti has fallen out of the news i guess— KarmaBcomin (@KarmaBcomin)1573780879.0
At the end, Holzhauer laughed all the way to the bank with his $250,00 grand prize as the winner of the Tournament of Champions on Friday night.
His combined winnings now total $2,712,216 and is the third-highest total in the game show's history behind Ken Jennings' $3,370,700.
Love Jeopardy!? You can play the game at home with the Jeopardy! Card Game, available here.