Ever since President Trump stepped foot in the White House and claimed the Oval Office, the American public was sure his private account Twitter days were over.
Leading up to his presidency, Trump took to Twitter as a strategy for his campaign with which he drew attention for his outrageous statements, as well as using Twitter to communicate and connect with his supporters. His Twitter presence was definitely something that put him on the map and kept the media paying attention to his every move.
We are all well aware that Trump’s Twitter rants haven’t stopped since he was sworn in, and there is no sign of him putting down the phone anytime soon.
Since much of President Trump’s media coverage involves his latest offensive or factually flawed tweet, it begs the question — should Trump be allowed to be in contact so freely with the American public, or should a president with rash and often derogatory tendencies be censored on Twitter?
To start, I think the notion of censoring a president’s social media presence can cause a disconnect between the White House and the American public.
We all can usually detect a disingenuous sense from a perfectly polished tweet, perhaps the same way it feels to receive a default mass email response. I also think it could potentially jeopardize the nature of our democracy and its very meaning.
The disclosure of a president’s day-to-day life on Twitter can be a really good thing. Not only does it humanize the leader of the free world, but it could give Americans an honest and interactive look at the important matters and decisions being made for our country.
However, when President Trump decides to spend his days calling out “fake news,” attacking the latest Saturday Night Live skit or publicly criticizing a clothing company, I think it’s safe to wonder why our President isn’t concerning himself with more important matters, at least on Twitter.
It’s also concerning when the tweets are not just trite, but incorrect. Just last week, Trump tweeted “22 vicious prisoners, released by the Obama Administration from Gitmo, have returned to the battlefield. Just another terrible decision!” This proved to be false, considering the Obama administration reengaged eight out of 182 detainees from Guantanamo, while the Bush administration returned 113 of the 532 detainees, according to the L.A. Times.
Trump’s not-so-carefully crafted 140 character statements carry a great deal of power. He has the power to affect international relations, cause stocks to go up or down (in the case of Nordstroms) and stimulate the American public. While I can think of many ways Trump can use Twitter positively and effectively, I don’t think measures should be taken to censor him as president.
Although there is much to be critiqued about his decisions to engage with seemingly trivial things on Twitter rather than discuss disclosed presidential matters in an informative way, the media continues to cover his every move.
People are outraged, but will not turn their heads. People may be offended, but they will not unfollow him. Trump continues to approach Twitter in the same nonchalant and frivolous way he did while campaigning, and that attitude is what caught people’s attention in the first place.
I think if censoring or banning Trump from Twitter is off the table, a good place to start improving would be him trying to tweet about his developing healthcare plan or his latest cabinet meeting, rather than Alec Baldwin’s bad impersonation of him, which I would in fact argue is highly inaccurate.