It seems unreal, almost like a playground fight: Trump sees a meme poking fun at his wife and responds by tweeting that he would “spill the beans” on Cruz’s wife, while also tweeting out a derogatory side-by-side image of both women. Even when Cruz tweeted Trump that the original meme was from an anti-Trump PAC and not him, the Twitter war continued to rage
This Twitter debacle bringing candidates’ wives into the ring was something you would never see during the last presidential election. Of course, presidential candidates from the last election cycle all had twitter accounts as well. Yet, all of these individuals have used Twitter as a tool to carefully curate their image, sharing uplifting quotes from speeches and videos or photos that show them in a positive, likable light. Trump has been an anomaly: his most recent Twitter wars raise the question of what lies in the future of this election cycle and beyond. Trump’s tweets demonstrate the consequences of fusing his campaign’s notorious rejection of political correctness with a platform known for lower standards of accountability.
“Presidential” Behavior & Positivity
While comparing Trump and other candidates on Twitter, the extent to which they attempt to project positivity most clearly reveals their differences. Other politicians clearly utilize social media, including rhetoric on Twitter, to cater to societal expectations of “presidential” behavior, or being respectful and forward-looking. For example, PR teams try to revamp public perception through positive social media tactics: Hillary Clinton regularly tweets out powerful statements relating to her platform such as “We can protect our Second Amendment rights AND take commonsense steps to prevent gun violence. It’s just a question of whether we choose to.” Similarly, Ted Cruz tweets out statements like “Together, we are uniting the Republican party, and we are winning”, followed by a link to join his campaign. It is apparent that on both sides of the aisle, positivity and likability remain apparent objectives in the candidates’ social media usage, as this helps corroborate an ideal image of the candidate and that can spread their platform to a wider audience.
Social media strategies are often a reflection of the candidate’s campaign ideology as a whole. While positive social media is an effective way to get the attention of the younger demographic and gain their support, it only affects the public’s perception of the candidate to a limited extent. Twitter and other forms of social media are often simply used as another medium to reach out to voters, and as the information tends to flow from the same PR teams responsible for their campaign as a whole, it is unlikely that there will be any deviation from the campaign’s general, positive rhetoric. As you scroll down candidates’ Twitter accounts, it is apparent that tweets characteristically portray the candidate in a positive light and rarely diverge from this strategy.
Trump is an anomaly when compared to the other candidates, as he does not rely on likability, but rather on bluntness that flouts political correctness. His journey to becoming the frontrunner was never comprised of trying to be agreeable or trying to save face. After public blunders like not denouncing David Duke of the KKK after Duke announced his support for Trump, Trump only stands by his previous offensive statement. It seems that apologies or backtracking are never a preferred form of rhetoric for Trump. So, it only makes sense that Trump’s tweets largely reflect the contentious nature of his campaign thus far.
Twitter: An Unruly, Yet Effective Tool
In fact, Twitter seems to magnify the controversy that Trump cooks up, dissociating the candidate from many expectations for accountability and furthering his petty politics. Twitter has little requisite level of decency of its users, as it shows “no sign of expanding its definition of abuse to encompass merely unpopular or controversial speech”, unlike other public forums, which works to Trump’s advantage. His recent sharing of derogatory memes about Cruz’s wife is his unique way of using Twitter’s lack of policing to spar in a less dignified way than he could in person. While a publicly spoken insult during a debate or a speech might elicit a more immediate form of reprimand, especially from public figures and other politicians, the degree to which Trump is held accountable for what he tweets is seemingly lesser.
It is also true that Trump himself, as a political outsider, is not used to being held accountable by the public for his words and actions, unlike many other candidates. Other candidates have held office and are familiar with the accountability and image required of such a responsibility. For Trump, there are no analogous boundaries, especially as he is familiar with the reality TV show setting of The Apprentice. As most other public forums require such accountability, it is no surprise that Trump has been creating controversy while struggling to follow boundaries. However, he often steps outside these bounds with purpose. In fact, an analysis indicates that Trump is more memorable as an outsider because of his distinctive demeanor and speech, which he extends to his unusual tweets.
For someone who revels in gaining attention in the public sphere and whose ideological prowess or political experience is not comparable to that of the other politicians, the best place to turn to is the familiar battleground of Twitter, where Trump has been tweeting offensive statements for a while. For example, he tweeted in 2013: “I would like to extend my best wishes to all, even the haters and losers, on this special date, September 11th.” This strategy has worked for him in the past, as he gains more attention for controversial statements, and his poll numbers consequently shoot up. We saw this trend in the aftermath of his aforementioned derogatory statement about Mexican people. Trump may have set a precedent in which the outsider is the ideal, and if being accountable and dignified on social media is representative of insider institutions, it is possible that candidates in future cycles may be more likely to resort to petty tweets in order to stand out in constituents’ eyes.
Perhaps Twitter especially helps Trump because the bluntness of a tweet reflects his speaking style and perceived “straightforward” personality, proving to be an effective continuation of his usual rhetoric. Trump’s rhetorical strategy of persuasion translates to Trump’s tweets, which seem to systematically utilize Aristotle’s modes of persuasion. For example, in December of 2015 Trump tweeted: “A suicide bomber has just killed U.S. troops in Afghanistan. When will our leaders get tough and smart. We are being led to slaughter!” This tweet, along with many of Trump’s other tweets, manages to appeal to both the followers’ logic (logos) and pathos (emotion) despite its curtness. Such persuasive tactics are only augmented by his strategic choice of absolutist rhetoric which cements his us vs. them ideology; the most used words in his tweets are “great”, “winner”, and “loser.” Thus, Trump seems to maximize the effect of a short tweet by using this format to appeal to peoples’ rudimentary logic and emotions.
While people have drawn many similarities between Trump and dictators in general, an analysis shows that Trump’s tweeting style is quite similar to those of Latin American demagogues specifically. Media is usually the middleman between the candidate and the voter, and Twitter allows candidates to forgo such a quality control barrier in order to directly reach voters. Trump has often claimed that the media is untrustworthy in order to justify the ways in which he bypasses it, just like Latin American demagogues such as Kirchner and Maduro have done. In so doing, Trump cements his outsider status and “downplays the importance of traditional institutions” (Politico). Consequently, institutionalized rhetoric characteristic of other candidates’ PR teams is seen as more suspicious by contrast. It is also important to note that Twitter is a a very one-sided form of politics, similar to an authoritarian’s rhetoric. Bypassing media for Twitter strips politics of the skepticism requisite of a well-functioning democracy. If more candidates resort to reaching their constituents directly through social media, without any middleman, avenues for such skepticism and questioning will be greatly impeded.
Trump’s success on Twitter is indicative not only of a changing age, but also of a decrease in accountability for individuals running for elected office. While Twitter is often a reflection of a candidate’s campaign as a whole, Donald Trump has used this platform for more than just a continuation of his usual rhetoric; its lack of policing complements Trump’s lack of political correctness, enhancing his ability to create more controversy and amass more followers. On Twitter, you can say what you want and spar without consequence: an endless Trump rally.
Image Credit: Flickr/Gage Skidmore