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Keeping up with the faults of the Trump Administration could be a full-time job. This causes many important things to fail to get the attention they deserve. One example of this is the outrageous Twitter account maintained by the most powerful person in the country. In the wake of immigration nightmares, blatant racism, and blunders all-around, it can be easy to overlook the seemingly trivial issue of a mismanaged social media account. Throughout history, the pulpit of the president has been a source of awe for many Americans. Whether it be local speeches, FDR’s fireside chats, or televised accounts from the Oval, messages from the nation’s president supposedly hold weight and importance. Unfortunately this important voice has been corrupted by Trump, the Twitter tyrant.
The first—and arguably most ridiculous—problem with Trump’s Twitter is his tendency to attack and immaturely insult random celebrities. While insulting political enemies (as seen here) is childish, at least it is somewhat relevant to his job. Yet for some reason, he feels the need to attack people such as Robert De Niro or, more recently, Lebron James and Don Lemon. Rants like these are strange enough coming from strangers, but coming from the president himself, it blends authority and immaturity to a level unseen before in the office. Shouldn’t he have better things to be doing with his time? Just for reference, that De Niro tweet went up at 2:40 a.m.
The second problem with the president’s Twitter is his choice to report “official” news and communications on this personal account. He has used it to make suggestions to other countries and presidents, such as putting forth ideas on EU trade or threatening Iran with unheard-of suffering (in all caps might I add). It seems as if Trump has decided to replace traditional press briefings and speeches with 140-character messages as they occur to him throughout the day. This offers a complicated portray of the American government on the world stage. These tweets must obviously hold weight, given the author, but they are also the furthest thing from official statements that could be issued. How does the world juggle a direct and erratic line of communication with the most powerful man in the world?
In combing through Trump’s Twitter, it is also worth noting the sheer bizarreness of some of his posts. The first and most viral is the obscure typo, “covfefe.” This was obviously just a silly typing mistake (of which Trump makes many), but it should not have been a huge deal. A typo or two is not the end of the world. The strangeness arises when Trump seemingly was unable to admit he made a minute mistake; he instead proposed that it was a secret code he wanted the nation to figure out. Equally as confusing was his tweet featuring a poorly photoshopped video of himself beating up CNN. Something you’d expect to see in a high school Twitter feud? Absolutely. Something coming from the president? Ridiculous. Perhaps Trump’s worst blunder to date was when he tweeted “best wishes” to his haters on “this special day, September 11,” which was later deleted. These are just a few hints of what goes on in the mind of this troubled and confused ruler of our country.
The president’s Twitter account is simply another glaring piece of evidence that we have an unqualified man in the White House. I am not critiquing the use of social media in an official capacity. I believe greater communication with our elected officials, which brings about more expedient access to information and decisions, is a promising effect of a more connected world. Donald Trump does not embody this ideal. He has chosen to taint this possibility with personal squabbles, childish drama, and an overall undignified online presence. As the presence of social media grows, kids are taught how important it is to maintain a clean and safe online profile. We are told that employers will check, that everything leaves a trail, that we can never delete what we upload, and that people will always be judging us. I think Trump missed those lessons.
