It is not joke. He punished companies for not obeying. "It was just a joke bro" is stupid manipulative excuse in normal situations, but in the case of Trump, it

It is not joke. He punished companies for not obeying. "It was just a joke bro" is stupid manipulative excuse in normal situations, but in the case of Trump, it is a complete unambigous lie. It was not a joke, no one laught. It is what republican leader said in all seriouaness and insisted on. And his voters seen it as a show of strength.