As you mentioned, my question about “covfefe” in Mr. Trump’s tweet attracted 100k views in the first day, and it built up to 257k views as of today. The gross 257k number far surpasses the total number of 156k users of EL&U, which means more than a half of the visitors to my question were coming from Google or other online sources.
When I searched for the word, “covfefe” on Google before posting the question (on May 31st 22:05, according to EL&U), there wasn’t any headings relevant to this word, and that’s why I posted this question in EL&U to get a clue.
I left home at 09:30 after posting the question, and I was surprised to find around 70k views on my post when I came home around 15:00.
I think a large part of the visitors approached Google at first to get the meaning of the word, “covfefe,” and found my question at the top of the search results, and then came to EL&U to look for my question.
A user ridiculed me in his answer: It means "a method for increasing your English.SX reputation overnight by leveraging Donald Trump's gaffes," which was later deleted by a moderator.
I think the unconventionally large number of views to my question is simply because it’s the word given publicly (and officially?) by the President of the United States of America, not the word of common people like you and me. The word turned into a monster meme and is walking around the world. You cannot laugh it away as a mere typo. It starts to have a meaning of its own.