Tweeter-in-chief
December 10, 2016
Our president-elect has managed once again to make headlines with his latest blazing tweetstorm for the tenth or eleventh time in two weeks, an impressive-turned-mundane feat for the likes of Mr. Trump.
I, quite honestly, found his tweets to be amusing at first, especially his rants. I saw Trump’s use of Twitter nothing more than a tool for him to attract attention and to thereby advertise his campaign, an unprecedented strategy that actually worked. It never bothered me too much whenever Trump would post outright offensive or deceptive tweets, for I felt that Trump was too smart to mean what he said and that he was simply playing along with his campaign, as repulsive as it was.
Now I realize I gave Trump too much credit. A month after being president-elect, Trump continues to tweet incessantly against anyone and anything, including against CNN for denouncing his false claims of a massive voting fraud that caused him to lose the popular vote, and, more recently, against Boeing for the deal to build Air Force One, a deal whose costs Trump greatly exaggerated to cause Boeing’s stocks to plummet.
Trump’s image as our nation’s president alongside his unrestrained usage of social media to bash all of his critics is horrific, to say the least, especially now that social media has taken such a significant role in the lives of all generations.
To say that his tweets are merely unprofessional is an understatement. What goes on the Internet never goes away and has the potential to leave irreparable damage, and if Trump does not realize the damage he havocs with his often mocking, even deceiving words, society will follow his example of unabashed pride and hatred towards opponents.
Such hate-inspired action has been observed, in fact, throughout many parts of the country. Already, headlines about extreme white nationalists openly and proudly attacking various racial groups have appeared, undoubtedly a consequence of Trump’s public discriminatory tweets.
The emotion-fueled and impulsive tweets demonizing anyone so bold enough to challenge him had been the primary driving force of his presidential campaign. Now that Trump has already won the election, however, this rhetoric seems to serve no purpose other than to further alienate opponents mercilessly and to worsen divisions in the nation over his controversial actions and policies.
Domestic turmoil is bad, but not bad enough for Trump, who has also endangered U.S. relations with China with his tweets concerning the controversial call he had with the leader of Taiwan. After receiving disapproval over the call, Trump sent another tweetstorm criticizing China’s trade and military policies, a provocative and extremely rash action that very well questions Trump’s competency to lead a nation. Trump’s tweets have drawn much notice and mockery from China’s media.
Trump, being the chief-of-state, bears the responsibility of being a symbol to the nation’s ideals. It is a responsibility that Trump must realize and a responsibility Trump must take to heart if he truly cares about the nation he is to lead–everyone’s eyes are now set on Trump, set on every action he does and every word he says. Trump has achieved the attention he so desired. The question is what he wants to do with it, if not for self-satisfaction and glorification.
