The Twitter Presidency: How Donald Trump’s Tweets Undermine Democracy and Threaten Us All

Extract

DONALD TRUMP IS NOTHING IF NOT PREDICTABLE. No matter how singular the situation or how serious the stakes—from his public response to Russian interference in the 2016 election to his comments on the devastation in Puerto Rico caused by Hurricane Maria to his statements about impeachment—President Trump reliably obeys his worst impulses: narcissism, nastiness, and deception. So, even in the context of the COVID-19 global health pandemic, it was folly to believe that President Trump would break with his rhetorical routine and respond in a manner befitting a U.S. president. By 1 May 2020, Trump had explicitly tweeted about the coronavirus 272 times since 24 January, the date of his first tweet referencing it.¹ As with his Twitter use prior to the pandemic, his tweets served three main purposes: to attack and criticize others, to promote an image of competence, and to engage in self-ingratiation. Conversely, not once did the president express compassion or empathize with those harmed by the virus’s spread.²