A Hillary-supporting friend has been complaining over the last year about Donald Trump’s use of Twitter. It is “unpresidential” in his view and he doesn’t understand why Trump would spend time publishing short and irritating-to-him tweets.
Modern U.S. presidents never seem to stop campaigning. Instead of sitting at their desks working, they’re constantly coming up with excuses to have taxpayers fund trips so that they can attend fundraisers or rallies for candidates from their party. President Obama used to shut down our flight school by coming up to the important election state of New Hampshire to talk at a high school (example) and then there would be a fundraiser in the evening.
Since Donald Trump built his support by using Twitter and other modern forms of media, is it reasonable to say that Trump’s continued use of Twitter is his way of doing what Presidents have always done? (with the bonus to the average resident of the U.S. that he stays in D.C. and/or Florida and perhaps gets more work accomplished or at least causes less inconvenience)
I agree. While the content of many of Donald Trump’s tweets is “unpresidential”, the fact that he uses Twitter differently than previous Presidents does not make it “unpresidential”.
Well, it shows that The Donald is not retarded. Isn’t that great?
In person campaigning reaches, what, 300 persons? 3000? Maybe 30,000 in an Arena. And, actually Trump did more of that than ANY OTHER candidate or president. That alone is not enough to reach the nation as a whole no matter how often you do it. Media coverage of in person events is what amplifies the effect.
With media coverage from the self-proclaimed “mainstream” networks being 93% negative, totally biased and outright fabricated, Trump has to be STUPID not to go around them and communicate directly to the American people. Twitter is one way of doing that and direct to Youtube addresses is another.
Being PRESIDENTIAL requires you, first and foremost, not be STUPID and INEFFECTIVE. Trump is being extremely presidential.
Well, your friend is right. Presidents are supposed to be boring pompous windbags reading off teleprompters with deliveries less convincing that even the most incompetent actor. Acting like an actual human being displaying real emotions and not a narcissistic sociopath doing a very bad job of faking emotion is _completely_ unpresidential.
I’m skeptical. After all, Trump does campaign-style rallies (example) and spends a lot of time away from his desk.
To me, because computer-mediated communication is so immediate and unfiltered, it’s a bit like telepathy – you’re getting the unvarnished version of people’s thoughts. Sometimes this is a good thing (I’ve read a lot of fascinating accounts of people’s personal experiences), but I don’t think it’s prudent for a world leader. To quote Game of Thrones: “Words are like arrows. Once loosed, you cannot call them back.”
A former CIA officer comments on the value of Trump’s tweets to foreign intelligence agencies.
I don’t think anyone has an issue with Trump using Twitter to get his message out. He’s hardly the first to embrace social media to reach his target audience. The issue is not the medium, but the tone of his messages.
A certain level of sophistication and decorum is expected from the Leader of the Free World, and rightly so! Getting bogged down in infantile name-calling, fixating on the minutiae of TV ratings, and railing against the free press is unacceptable behaviour for most professional people holding the most mundane of job titles. That this gobshite should represent this great nation so disgracefully should be a source of embarrassment for any intelligent person.
You seem to also miss the fact Trump is still holding rallies in person, something unusual outside the election cycle. That, coupled with his “executive time” giving him an 11:30am start, his penchant for the golf course and time at Mar-a-Lago would render your claim he is more productive questionable at best.
Thanks for the fun read.
I do not understand this at all. Trump is our president. Everything he does is therefore presidential. Grab em by the pussy…. shit holes (or houses)!
I have to hand it to Trump, he really seems to frustrate the hell out of the CNN/MSNBC/etc. They “report” something, and he then gives his version that counters it. They make a mistake, he highlights it. He has delegitimized the mainstream news and not just for conservatives but for liberals as well. He is the ultimate troll and never runs out of material, eg. Fake News Awards.
(I put “report” in quotes because the news now is laced with so much bias these days they should all be called opinion pieces – and that goes for both the right and the left)
I deplore the man, but I have to agree he is more interesting/entertaining than an empty suit with a good haircut. Neither of them should be President, but under today’s rules the best entertainer wins.