The 2016 Presidential Election was one of the most contested and heated elections in American History with a great deal of unprecedented standards. Donald Trump veered off the typical path candidates usually take in order to win the White House as Donald Trump is known for creating a spectacle, but took to his twitter account to take his spectacle and his brand to a completely different level, one that is not seen in previous presidential campaigns. The use of twitter created a counter-trend in political communication as Donald Trump used twitter to taunt and create tirades between himself and other people in what seems to be a limitless candidate that speaks his true mind. Donald Trump used his twitter account to raise a war with the media which is one of the most unprecedented pieces of Trumps campaign. This paper will examine direct tweets from Donald Trump’s twitter account to display how unprecedented Donald Trump’s political communication is throughout the 2016 campaign season. The Trump campaign is unprecedented through Donald Trump’s use of his own personal twitter account which created a different way of communicating with followers than in previous years.
Part I: Synthesis of Exemplary Sources
Donald Trump has been a media spectacle for decades, but is not the only political leader to emerge from a spectacle. Both Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama utilized the media to create a spectacle for their respected campaigns. Donald Trump, however, has always fostered the spectacle through the various buildings, casinos, and television shows. The experiences Trump has obtained in creating spectacles carried over to his presidential campaign. Kellner (2016) argues that “Trump is empowered and enabled to run for the presidency in part because media spectacle has become a major force in US politics, helping to determine elections, government… Trump is a successful creator and manipulator of the spectacle” (pp. 3-4). Donald Trump has always competed for the spotlight in any venture Trump set out for. His entire life has been dedicated to winning and would do anything for the top spot; therefore, Trump ran his campaign in a similar fashion. From obtaining popularity in Trumps television show The Celebrity Apprentice to criticizing politics, Donald Trump ran a similar campaign by sending outrageous tweets which would then dominate the mainstream media helping Trump create a large spectacle and increase his brand through twitter. (Kellner, 2016, pp 3-6).
Donald Trump has spent decades building his brand through his businesses and television shows, but most recently, through the use of his twitter account. Trump utilizes his twitter account for controversy and attention in which the main stream media picks up on. According to Sarah Oates and Wendy Moe (2016) “Trump tweeted… an average of about 21 tweets per day” (p. 9). Donald Trump utilized twitter to brand himself and many determined that the tweets Donald Trump send out are not “politics as usual.” Trump brands himself by tweeting about important issues, but fails to include political content. Due to the unusual nature of Donald Trump’s tweets, he has created a specific brand with this twitter account. The tweets of Donald Trump reached an impressive audience; supporters of Trump, those who oppose Trump, and those who vilify Trump were all giving Trump attention because of the brand created through his twitter account. There is evidence to support the idea of Trump receiving far more media attention due to his twitter account thanks to his republican and democratic opponents. (Oates and Moe, 2016). The unusual nature of how Donald Trump branded himself via his twitter account is also a counter-trend in political communication.
Presidential candidates are constantly attempting to figure out diverse strategies in attacking political communication. Donald Trump used the newest social media phenomena that is twitter. There are millions of twitter users and Donald Trump reaches an extremely wide audience with his twitter account; however, Trumps twitter account is unprecedented when compared to other presidential candidates. Trump utilized twitter even before he began his campaign for office and had a rather large following, millions of followers. According to Chris Wells (2016) “In his hands, unfiltered by campaign managers, Twitter became a tool of political promotion, distraction, score-setting and attack” (p. 671). Trump did not fully utilize his twitter for political issues, but rather promotion and attacking people and groups. This is a counter-trend in political communication as most candidates keep their campaigns about themselves and their accomplishments and their policies. Donald Trump rather attacked politicians, civilians, and businesses during his campaign, all while trying to promote himself as the best. Trumps infamous “tweetstorms” would pick up an immense amount of media attention and diverse audiences followed Trump and the media attention. (Wells, 2016, pp. 669-676). Not only do Donald Trump’s tweet serve as a counter-trend in political communication, but also highlight the taunts and tirades Trump employed during the 2016 campaign.
Some presidential candidates decide to take his or her campaign and “go negative” rather than continue with the continuous positive campaign. Donald Trump took this notion to an entirely different level. Donald Trump’s main use of negativity was not only in his rallies, but on his twitter account which received high levels of media attention. The twitter taunts and tirades of Donald Trump received an inordinate amount of media attention and according to political science scholars, Donald Trump “sends and receives the most negative tweets and is more likely than his opponents to strike out against even those opponents who are polling poorly” (Gross, Justin & Johnson, Kaylee, 2016). Further in the analysis, I will examine Donald Trump’s twitter as a direct primary source which highlight some of the twitter taunts and tirades. However, not only does Donald Trump use his twitter account to taunt his opponents, he also uses his twitter to attack the mainstream media.
Donald Trump has attacked the main stream media from the foundation of his campaign. However, there is no doubt that Donald Trump had the news media to help him win the republican nomination and eventually the Office of President of the United States. However, the relationship between Donald Trump and the media is not healthy as many attacks on the media were prevalent throughout the campaign. Many critics argue that Trump infiltrated the news media by playing with the media and taking a strong control over the media. Donald Trump would also utilize his twitter to attack the media because twitter is free and a way for candidates to “offer easily digested, potentially newsworthy content, as they engage with one another and with followers in real time” (Gross, Justin & Johnson, Kaylee, 2016). Many journalists flocked to Donald Trump and his tirades of the media. Donald Trump also made a variety of claims that the media was “fake” and not giving out accurate information; therefore, he took to twitter to discredit the media. In the analysis of primary sources, Donald Trump’s twitter account, one will have the ability to understand, in further detail, how Donald Trump attacked the main stream media with his twitter account.
Part II: Analysis of Primary Sources
In order to understand how Donald Trump’s twitter is unprecedented, one needs to examine Donald Trump’s twitter firsthand. Therefore, utilizing Donald Trump’s twitter account will help answer the research question and prove just how unprecedented Donald Trump’s twitter rhetoric is. The following tweets show the various attacks on other presidential candidates, the mainstream media, policy issues, and the taunts and tirades of civilians and businesses.
Donald Trump ran his 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton and had a lot to say in regards to Hillary Clinton and the Clinton campaign. On 26 December 2015, Donald Trump tweeted, “Hillary Clinton has announced that she is letting her husband out to campaign but HE’S DEMONSTRATED A PENCHANT FOR SEXISM, SO INNAPROPRIATE” (@realDonaldTrump). Most presidential candidates will attack their opponents, but Donald Trump took the attacks to another personal level and used an immense amount of ad hominem attacks against Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton. The tweets deployed by Donald Trump in regards to sexism are very controversial due to Trumps past experiences with sexual assault against woman. For example, the video that surfaced with Donald Trump and Billy Bush in which Trump used vulgar language against women; Trump continues to be hypocritical, but has created such a media spectacle which seems to be working for him and his supporters. Donald Trump took the tweets to another level and made his attacks against Hillary Clinton very personal. In addition to personal attacks, Trump utilize his twitter account to attack the election process.
The 2016 campaign was very hard fought and strenuous, but Donald Trump did not filter any of his rhetoric. On 16 October 2016, Donald Trump tweeted that “The election is absolutely being rigged by the dishonest and disturbed media pushing Crooked Hillary – but also at many polling places – SAD” (@realDonaldTrump). The American democratic system and values align with both opponents accepting the results of the outcome because that is what the American democratic system is all about. Donald Trump, however, took a different approach and rather attacked the election system as evident in the posted tweet. In addition to name calling, Trump blames the dishonest media for the rigged elections. The tweet is rather unsettling as Donald Trump won the election. Many people question if Donald Trump would be saying the same ideas today as in the 2016 campaign. Previous Presidential candidates have always accepted the outcome of the elections, but Donald Trump had a harder time and was heavily criticized. The attacks on the elections and media were continuous throughout the campaign, but Trump also attacked individuals such as Megyn Kelly from Fox News.
Donald Trump has had a feud with the media throughout his campaign and he had no problem calling out the various news outlets or anyone that talked ill of him. Megyn Kelly a reporter for Fox News was heavily criticized by Donald Trump and on 27 January 2016, Donald Trump stated, “I refuse to call Megyn Kelly a bimbo, because that would not be politically correct. Instead I will only call her a lightweight reporter!” (@realDonaldTrump). Donald Trump was mad at Megyn Kelly because he claims that Kelly was unfair to Trump during the republican debate and asked him too difficult of a question and therefore took to his twitter account to attack Kelly’s reporting. Most presidential candidates try to create a positive relationship with reporters and the media, but Donald Trump took a completely different approach by attacking the media. Trump attacks news stations and reporters directly, and with no remorse. The attacks are all a part of the spectacle Trump has created for himself. Although Trump makes these attacks on his twitter, most presidential candidates have some issues with the media, but do not attack or complain constantly about the attacks.
The attacks that Donald Trump utilized throughout the 2016 campaign against the media is unprecedented. Trump is extremely critical of the media because Trump believes the news media was not providing factual information. On 30 September 2017, Trump tweeted, “Anytime you see a story about me or my campaign saying, ‘sources said,’ DO NOT believe it. There are no sources, they are just made up lies!” (@realDonaldTrump). The entire job of the media is to hold elected officials accountable for his or her actions, but Trump believes otherwise. As evident by Trumps tweet, Trump claims that the media has continuously provided false information about him and his campaign. Therefore, Trump would rather have voters listen and follow him directly, via his twitter account and completely bypass the news media because only Trump is providing factual information. The war with the media has been a continuous circuit since the commencement of Trumps campaign, but Trump utilizes this war to create a spectacle and to turn the people against the media and make himself stronger and seem more credible. The United States Constitution under the First Amendment states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances” (U.S. Const. amend. I). The job of the news media is to hold presidents and their campaigns accountable, as outlined. However, Trump has taken an unprecedented approach with his twitter account and raised a war with the media, but the approach does not stop with the news media, but companies as well.
Donald Trump ran a very critical campaign and would tweet and tirade about anything that Trump did not believe in or who treated him poorly. These attacks include large companies such as Apple. On 20 February 2016, Donald Trump attacked Apple by asking his followers to “Boycott all Apple products until such time as Apple gives cellphone info to authorities regarding radical Islamic terrorist couples from Cal” (@realDonaldTrump). In 2016, there were attacks in San Bernardino, California and Apple refused to turn over information to authorities due to privacy and Donald Trump did not find that information pleasing. Therefore, instead of working with Apple to advocate the release of information, he took to Twitter and called for his followers to boycott the Apple company as a whole. However, this story is rather delicate because of privacy laws and if Donald Trump had gone to law school or studied the law in a formal manner, he may have a better understanding of what the law states in regards to privacy. Regardless, Trump took his twitter and made a declaration for people to boycott Apple altogether. As evident from the Apple attacks, Donald Trump continues to attack high level groups, organizations, and people, creating false claims against his predecessor, President Barack Obama.
Presidential candidates have always been critical of their predecessor, but not in the way Donald Trump has. On 3 March 2017, Donald Trump tweeted that Barack Obama had tapped Trumps wires during the 2016 campaign. In a tweet, Donald Trump states, “Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!” (@realDonaldTrump). Without any evidence or suspicions, Donald Trump took to twitter to make a claim against his predecessor, President Barack Obama. Since Donald Trump operates his twitter account via his own personal device and with no help or influence from aids, Trump can tweet whatever he so chooses and make false claims against former President Barack Obama. These claims were unfounded as FBI Director James Coomey testified before Congress and stated the following when asked about the quotes tweet, “We have no information to support to support those tweets” (Rosenberg, M., Huetteman, E., & Schmidt, M., 2017). The FBI investigated the wire tapping claims and stated that there is no evidence to support Donald Trump and his claims that President Barack Obama had wiretapped his campaign in Trump Tower in New York City. Rather than obtaining information from close aides in regards to this issue, Donald Trump took to his twitter for reasons that are unknown.
Donald Trump has been known as the unconventional presidential candidate and that is due to the spectacle and brand he created for himself. Trump utilized twitter for years before he joined the campaign trail. However, the twitter taunts and tirades were prevalent before Trump decided to run for President. Trump once referred to his followers as “losers” and “haters” due to stark criticism of him. On 8 May 2013, Donald Trump tweeted “Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest – and you all know it! Please don’t feel so stupid or insecure, it’s not your fault” (@realDonaldTrump). Here, Donald Trump is showing his insecurities as a person and will do whatever he can to set his brand apart and create an immense spectacle for himself. Tweets like these have continued throughout the years and gradually became harsher and harsher when Trump announced his candidacy for President of the United States of America. Many scholars look at the tweets sent by Donald Trump and evaluate the rhetoric as un-presidential, but the people of the United States voted for an unconventional candidate and an unconventional president is what the United States received.
Conclusion
Donald Trump ran a campaign that was unprecedented in American history and many scholars credit his use of his personal twitter account throughout the campaign. Donald Trump utilized his twitter account to build himself a brand that was unlike any other presidential candidate in history and by doing so, he created a spectacle that the media gravitated toward. The spectacles include attacking: people, companies, organizations, the media, his opponent, and even former President Barack Obama. However, the biggest fight Donald Trump created was between himself and the media. Donald Trump believed the media to be “fake” and therefore asked people to follow him on twitter to get the real truth. The use of social media and twitter allowed for an unprecedented campaign season, but ultimately led Donald Trump to the White House.