Like most American college students, I enjoy using social media. I check Twitter at least once a day, and almost every day there seems to be some new drama stemming from the tweets and retweets of our current president.
Donald Trump is the first U.S. president elected in a true social media society, and the precedent he is setting is one of extremely reckless and childish behavior. There are 16-year-old student body presidents who show more maturity on social media than Trump.
The American public had a field day in May 2017 when President Trump famously tweeted “Despite the constant negative press covfefe” at 12:06 a.m. Sure, the resulting media coverage was entertaining, but the tweet itself represents a much larger issue at hand. President Trump appears to have direct, unfettered access to his Twitter account, and there does not seem to be anybody vetting the things the president says before he says them.
The president should not tweet like a private citizen. Having at least some level of screening before a message is sent out to the entire world from the president is crucial. This is not to censor the president’s thoughts and feelings, but to ensure he truly endorses the messages he is putting out to the world. Once a tweet is sent out, it cannot be taken back.
As the president, one cannot afford to publicly say or insinuate things they do not mean. Though social media sites like Twitter seems trivial to most private citizens, we live in a global society and the rest of the world is watching. Moreover, at this stage in world history, the consequences associated with the President of the United States tweeting something they do not fully mean or endorse are not just trivial things like embarrassment. The American political climate is stressful enough without the lingering idea that we could be launched into nuclear war at any time just because our president took it too far and insulted someone one too many times via Twitter.
If the president learned anything from the “covfefe” incident, it does not show, because he has continued to tweet with little regard. President Trump has an ever-growing history of tweeting and retweeting content that can be considered questionable at best. In July, he tweeted a video of him violently wrestling CNN to the ground. In August, he retweeted a meme of him eclipsing President Obama in honor of the solar eclipse. In September, he retweeted an edited video of him hitting Hillary Clintonwith a golf club.
If you identify as politically conservative, these might be things you would enjoy or laugh at if posted by a friend on Facebook or Twitter, but considering the source they are completely inappropriate and inexcusable. President Trump, hopefully, would not present pictures and videos like this at a press conference, so he should not tweet or retweet them either.
In June, then-White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, confirmed that anything posted to President Trump’s Twitter accounts are, in fact, considered official statements from the Office of the President. “Well I do retweets, and…to a certain extent, I do, yeah…I retweet for a reason,” then-candidate Trump even said himself in 2015.
“My use of social media is not Presidential – it’s MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL. Make America Great Again!” Trump tweeted in July. Contrary to his feelings, this is an issue of tact, not an issue of modernity. His usual tweets can range anywhere from generally uninformed, to intentionally callous, to even potentially dangerous, but are far from presidential. In fact, I cannot think of anything less presidential than the way our current president conducts himself on Twitter. I know many who support Trump do so, in part, because he “tells it like it is.” However, even taking that into account, there should still be some level of respect and professionalism in all official statements from the president.
President Trump is continuously claiming the “#FakeNews” media only covers his ridiculous tweets and never concentrates on the good work he does. If this is the case, he should consider that there would be no ridiculous statements to comment on if he did not make them in the first place. If his goal is truly to “Make America Great Again,” Trump should stop embarrassing himself and our country and either act professional or retire his private twitter account till the completion of his tenure as commander-in-chief.
Anna Coleman is a 19-year-old mass communication junior from Kennesaw, Georgia.
