A weekly column contributed by The George Mason Democrats and the George Mason College Republicans. Topics are selected by the Fourth Estate Editorial team with input from readers. This week’s opinion: Trump Tweets. What is your position/opinion on his use of the Twitter platform and the messages of his tweets? Are there any positive aspects or any concerning aspects about his use of Twitter?
“The George Mason College Republicans is a club dedicated to educating students on campus about the Republican Party; we are actively involved in fundraising and campaigning for local and national candidates.” –gmucollegerepublicans@gmail.com
“The George Mason Democrats – a registered student organization, the official Democratic group on the Fairfax campus of George Mason University, and a charter member of the Virginia Young Democrats. We work closely with our local Democratic groups, including the Braddock District Democrats, the Fairfax County Democratic Committee, and the Fairfax Young Democrats. We seek to get Democrats elected, up and down the ballot. We are primarily a campaign organization, however we also focus on advocating for policies that affect all young people, regardless of political affiliation.” –info@gmudems.com
By Andrew Millin, Chief of Staff, George Mason Democrats
Trump’s tweets are a very salient topic of late because of his tirades against the NFL, while comparatively ignoring the humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico. Between September 24-28, the President tweeted/retweeted 20 times about the flag controversy and tweeted/retweeted 12 times about Puerto Rico where lives are endangered. It is disgraceful that the peaceful actions of athletes is taking up more of his tweeting time than providing information on the recovery efforts in Puerto Rico is. Tweeting about the NFL controversy should not take up any of his time at all. Not while there are more pressing domestic and international issues. Normally, a President will tweet about events they participate in or the activities of their cabinet members. They also may tweet about major world crises, especially natural disasters that are endangering the lives of American citizens.
Beyond the insensitive content of some of his tweets, his Twitter activity could be illegal. According to the National Constitution Center, blocking users on Twitter from viewing the @POTUS, @realDonaldTrump, or any other account associated with his office could be infringements of free speech. A legal briefing filed by his administration on Sept. 25 states that the president has blocked people whose tweets he does not agree with. The first amendment is there to protect Americans from government interference on speech. Blocking someone on Twitter is exactly that, as well as very snowflake-like for a person who repeatedly called those who did not agree with him “snowflakes”.
Trump’s use of Twitter is problematic at best, and illegal at worst. It is about time he handed over access to his account to social media experts before he gets himself into more trouble than he is facing with the Special Prosecutor investigation into his campaign’s activities in 2016. Based on the content and spelling of many of his tweets, Trump could use some “covfefe” before tweeting incoherently at odd hours of the morning when he should be sleeping or stopping military escalation of the situation with North Korea.
Most importantly, if you have the means, find local organizations in Puerto Rico that is helping the relief efforts to donate to.
The George Mason Republican’s take on Trump Tweets can be read here.
Illustration by Mary Jane DeCarlo
