You’d be disappointed if Trump were anything less than outraged by Twitter’s action. Twitter, he now says, is interfering in the 2020 election and stifling free speech—claims Twitter should have labeled as bogus, too. Trump plans to issue an executive order meant to punish Twitter and other social sites if they interfere with his proclamations. It will face an immediate legal challenge and probably never go into effect. But that’s beside the point.
What’s going on here is exactly what Trump wants: A fake scandal metastasizing into yet another opportunity for Trump to indulge his persecution complex and portray himself as the victim of Deep Media. Who knows if it will help him get reelected, but Trump wants to distract Americans from the awful coronavirus death toll, which recently topped 100,000, and a deep recession that has put 41 million Americans out of work. A war with Twitter is right out of the Trump playbook.
Source: Twitter
completely false. The aide’s widowed husband has asked Trump to desist, because it’s cruel to surviving family members. Trump has ignored the request and continued with the attacks, prompting calls for Twitter to suspend his account or take some other action.">The trigger for Twitter’s action is a shameful Trump smear addressed at MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, a vigorous Trump critic. In 2001, when Scarborough was a member of Congress, a 28-year-old aide died in his Florida office in a tragic accident, apparently passing out from an undiagnosed medical condition and hitting her head on a piece of furniture. Trump claims it’s a “cold case” in which Scarborough is a suspect, which is completely false. The aide’s widowed husband has asked Trump to desist, because it’s cruel to surviving family members. Trump has ignored the request and continued with the attacks, prompting calls for Twitter to suspend his account or take some other action.
Trump’s bogeyman strategy
So Twitter labeled two Trump lies with the blue exclamation point, focusing not on Trump’s heartless attacks on the deceased aide but on election integrity. Better than nothing? Maybe. But it plays right into Trump’s strategy. Here’s how this is likely to unfold.
A 1996 law gives Twitter and other online networks broad discretion in terms of how they treat content posted by users. Trump wants to tighten the law to his advantage and find a way to punish networks that control content in ways disadvantageous to conservatives. That’s blatantly political and it would require Congress to pass a new law, which isn’t going to happen any time soon, because Democrats control the House. This is why Trump’s order probably has no chance in court.
Trump has no authority to shut down Twitter, which is a publicly held company—and he’d be crazy to shut it down if he could. Trump has 80 million Twitter followers, and the platform is his best tool for sidestepping traditional media. He needs Twitter, and wouldn’t be Trump without it. No other platform foments outrage as effectively as Twitter’s short-form, rapid-fire posts, and that outrage is Trump’s lifeblood as a politician.
Trump will still thrash Twitter, however, because it’s a useful whipping boy for him. Three months ago, Trump’s reelection strategy was to run on a strong economy. With a ravaging recession underway, Trump can’t do that anymore. He has also earned poor marks for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. He has little interest in the details of leading during a crisis, deferring to Vice President Mike Pence and various governors. As a politician, Trump is floundering, and his future in public life is looking short.
What’s going on here is exactly what Trump wants: A fake scandal metastasizing into yet another opportunity for Trump to indulge his persecution complex and portray himself as the victim of Deep Media. Who knows if it will help him get reelected, but Trump wants to distract Americans from the awful coronavirus death toll, which recently topped 100,000, and a deep recession that has put 41 million Americans out of work. A war with Twitter is right out of the Trump playbook.
Source: Twitter
completely false. The aide’s widowed husband has asked Trump to desist, because it’s cruel to surviving family members. Trump has ignored the request and continued with the attacks, prompting calls for Twitter to suspend his account or take some other action.">The trigger for Twitter’s action is a shameful Trump smear addressed at MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, a vigorous Trump critic. In 2001, when Scarborough was a member of Congress, a 28-year-old aide died in his Florida office in a tragic accident, apparently passing out from an undiagnosed medical condition and hitting her head on a piece of furniture. Trump claims it’s a “cold case” in which Scarborough is a suspect, which is completely false. The aide’s widowed husband has asked Trump to desist, because it’s cruel to surviving family members. Trump has ignored the request and continued with the attacks, prompting calls for Twitter to suspend his account or take some other action.
Trump’s bogeyman strategy
So Twitter labeled two Trump lies with the blue exclamation point, focusing not on Trump’s heartless attacks on the deceased aide but on election integrity. Better than nothing? Maybe. But it plays right into Trump’s strategy. Here’s how this is likely to unfold.
A 1996 law gives Twitter and other online networks broad discretion in terms of how they treat content posted by users. Trump wants to tighten the law to his advantage and find a way to punish networks that control content in ways disadvantageous to conservatives. That’s blatantly political and it would require Congress to pass a new law, which isn’t going to happen any time soon, because Democrats control the House. This is why Trump’s order probably has no chance in court.
Trump has no authority to shut down Twitter, which is a publicly held company—and he’d be crazy to shut it down if he could. Trump has 80 million Twitter followers, and the platform is his best tool for sidestepping traditional media. He needs Twitter, and wouldn’t be Trump without it. No other platform foments outrage as effectively as Twitter’s short-form, rapid-fire posts, and that outrage is Trump’s lifeblood as a politician.
Trump will still thrash Twitter, however, because it’s a useful whipping boy for him. Three months ago, Trump’s reelection strategy was to run on a strong economy. With a ravaging recession underway, Trump can’t do that anymore. He has also earned poor marks for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. He has little interest in the details of leading during a crisis, deferring to Vice President Mike Pence and various governors. As a politician, Trump is floundering, and his future in public life is looking short.
