Whether it's to get in touch with the younger generation, or to just feel satisfied from blasting out opinions on the web, many high profile adults, especially politicians, are signing up and getting their own Twitter accounts. One of these adults is someone who never seems to be out of the media's spotlight — Donald Trump. Trump's verified Twitter, @realDonaldTrump, was a feed that I had purposely avoided. Tonight, after hearing (yet another) story about something offensive the Republican presidential nominee had said, I decided to go directly to the source to investigate myself — I went on Donald Trump's Twitter.
What I found was this: a sinking feeling in my stomach. "This guy is going to be the Republican candidate? Really?"
As I scrolled through Trump's Tweets, the only word I could use to describe the experience was uncomfortable. Although Trump's Twitter wasn't as offensive as I had expected it to be (based on some of the public statements he's made throughout the years), there were still some cringe-worthy aspects to his feed that just, well, yikes.
1. His use of "nicknames" for other politicians.
Trump is a politician, so of course he has opinions that conflict with other popular politicians. Totally normal. But what isn't normal is how he refers to these people in his Tweets. To emphasize, I guess, how he feels about these people, he has an adjective linked to their name that always appears when they are mentioned. For example:
Hillary Clinton = Crooked Hillary
New York Times = Failing New York Times
Bernie Sanders = Crazy Bernie
Elizabeth Warren = Goofy Elizabeth Warren
It just goes on and on.
2. Sometimes he sounds like an angry soccer mom on Facebook.
Everyone has a soccer mom somewhere in their Facebook news feed. Posts like "Today I went to the store and someone left a cart out in the parking lot. It hit my car. I am very frustrated!"
or
"Billy had a game today and the referees let the other team break the rules. I am very disappointed!"
The structure of the status is very common: a statement followed by an exclamation. Usually the exclamation just feels awkward, honestly.
Like this:
or
also
plus
3. (Not so) subtle racism.
Kind of self-explanatory here.
4. Just old-fashioned bullying.
Even though Donald Trump is an adult, some of his Tweets could have you fooled, thinking instead that he might actually be a fifth grade boy at recess.
5. His Retweets.
Trump usually Retweets his supporters, but the Tweets he decides to quote are, well, rough.
After spending about an hour reading through Trump's feed, I had had enough. If you just go through his Tweets, it's astonishing that this man is one of the front-runners in the presidential race. It's also scary.Trump could potentially be the leader of our country, yet he periodically lets out completely ignorant statements on Twitter. Honestly, who is on his PR team? I can understand the entertainment factor to Trump's account, but the man is running for president. It's not a reality TV show, even though Trump's Twitter feed contains all of the drama of one. Again, yikes.
