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'Covfefe': Al Franken offers definition of Trump's viral typo

Posted at 6:43 AM, May 31, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-31 09:43:43-04

(CNN) -- No one is quite sure what "covfefe" -- the typo issued by President Donald Trump early Wednesday morning that quickly went viral -- means. But Democratic Sen. Al Franken is offering a definition.

"A 'covfefe' is 'a Yiddish term for 'I gotta go to bed now,' I think," the former "Saturday Night Live" writer told "New Day" anchor Alisyn Camerota, laughing.

"He got that from Jared, I guess," added Franken, referring to the President's son-in-law, who is an observant Orthodox Jew.

Trump tweeted "Despite the constant negative press covfefe," a clause with no context, at 12:06 a.m. ET Wednesday.

The tweet quickly drew a deluge of attention.

As of 4 a.m., the tweet garnered more than 108,000 retweets and more than 135,000 likes. To put that in context, the tweet in which he claimed -- without proof -- that he would have won the popular vote if it were not for voter fraud had more than 52,000 retweets and more than 160,000 likes at the time of writing this article.

The tweet was finally deleted about 5:50 a.m. ET Wednesday.

At 6:09 a.m., Trump tweeted again: "Who can figure out the true meaning of "covfefe" ??? Enjoy!"