Poor Donald Trump.
Even the most optimistic forecasts for Tuesday's election only give him a one-in-three chance of winning and Michael Maiennow he's suffered the indignity of having his Twitter account taken away from him by those running his campaign.
SEE ALSO: Insult after insult: All of Trump's ugly campaign rhetoric in one placeSad!
But there's a case to be made that the campaign shouldn't have stepped in and interfered with Trump's tweeting tirades. Sure, his tweets are full of insults and horrible invective, but there are a few reasons why they should just hand him back his phone and let him get on with it.
Seriously, this is the guy who retweeted white supremacists and a Mussolini tweetbot, and dropped a pre-sunrise tweetstorm accusing a Miss Universe contestant of having a sex tape (it was totally unsubstantiated). You're going to try to convince us that he's a totally chill guy who has no temper problem now?
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
The cat's out of the bag. We all know what we're getting with Trump by this point and cutting off his access to Twitter isn't going to suddenly change our minds about the guy. And people who support Trump don't follow him on Twitter because he's refined. They want the Trump that "tells it like it is."
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Give the people, all of them, what they want: an unfiltered view of an unmitigated tire fire of a campaign.
With a guy like Trump firing any and every thought he has out on Twitter, you're going to get a lot of strange stuff along with the political messages. It's not often that a major party presidential candidate can drop knowledge like this on Twitter.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
But it's not just his celebrity gossip that has people reading. There's body-shaming, too!
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
It's not quite Confucius but...
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
There's been a lot made of how Twitter is struggling, especially in the era of Snapchat. But Trump's use of Twitter as an outlet for whatever the hell seems to pop into his brain at any damn moment has galvanized Twitter users to swarm to the service when something happened.
Admit it: Every time a new controversy erupted or something weird happened on the trail, your first instinct was to grab some popcorn and tune into his account just to see how he reacted.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Not only that, but many users, this site included, used Twitter to disseminate what Trump (as well as his followers) was doing and saying. Sure, it's hard to get nuance into 140 characters, but nuance is not something Trump is really known for.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Reporters like CBS's Sopan Deb and NBC's Katy Tur have shared quotes, images, and videos from Trump's (many, many) controversial moments. Every time Trump said something dumb or threatening -- which was often -- the moments were instantly within arms reach of a user.
And it wasn't just Trump who benefitted from Twitter. Hillary Clinton's team found a way to use her Twitter account to respond to Trump's Twitter account in terms that "the kids these days" understand. (Just be thankful neither candidate used the phrase "on fleek.")
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
But here's the flip-side to that previous point: Twitter has long had a horrendous harassment problem, an issue that got even more attention thanks to Trump and the outrageous behavior of his supporters (especially when Trump surrogates fan the flames on Twitter).
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
The harassment that takes place on social media platforms is inexcusable yet inescapable and it's hardly limited to the realm of politics (see this summer's attack on actress Leslie Jones).
But the vitriol of this election year has brightened the spotlight on Twitter's abuse problem at a time when the company sure could have used good press. Both Disney and SalesForce reportedly backed off potential offers to buy the platform over worries that trolls and abuse could harm the new parent company's brand.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
I can't imagine why neither Mickey Mouse or Marc Benioff would want to be attached to a social media platform where the above kind of interactions are the rule, not the exception.
And until Twitter fixes this problem, the 2016 election will stand as a dark, pivotal moment in the platform's history.
Topics X/Twitter Donald Trump Elections
A Week in Culture: Amélie Nothomb, Writer by Amélie NothombGeoff Dyer on 'Otherwise Known as the Human Condition' by Evan RatliffIda Kar by Nicole RudickWhaling Upwards5 planets will light the sky in rare astronomical event this weekWhere the Vile Things AreGeoff Dyer on 'Otherwise Known as the Human Condition' by Evan RatliffTesting GroundsThe Volunteers of DeathStaff Picks: Cycling, Skiing, and an Island of Solitude by The Paris ReviewSchumer’s WarningLearning to ListenStaff Picks: Franzen's Pot Stash, Fire Season by The Paris ReviewSchumer’s WarningHard Knock LifeBiden’s Final HumiliationWhere the Vile Things AreThe Speed of Motion by Harold EdgertonDavid Orr: Lost in the Archives, Spring 1974 by David OrrYoram Kaniuk on 'Life on Sandpaper' by Joshua Cohen On the Shelf by Sadie Stein 'Doctor Who' gives us our first look at Ncuti Gatwa as the new Doctor A Week in Culture: Matthew Specktor, Writer and Editor by Matthew Specktor The Place of the Flavored Vodkas by Molly Fischer Staff Picks: Robert Walser, Katherine Larson by The Paris Review Staff Picks: Lawrence of Tell Halaf, Raging Nymphos by The Paris Review Poem: Pomme by Rachel Jamison Webster Mayor of D.C. has city workers painting 'Black Lives Matter' on street to White House Bluesky, Jack Dorsey's decentralized Twitter killer, is now on Android The Soloist: Jason Moran Live at A Gathering of Tribes by J. D. Mitchell Part 1: Nathaniel Rich’s Trousers by Clancy Martin My Manticore by Sadie Stein Maira Kalman by Daisy Atterbury Imgur to remove explicit images and old content A Week in Culture: Tom Nissley, Writer and Game Elizabeth Warren and her very good dog Bailey joined the Washington D.C. protests It Never Gets Old by Louisa Thomas A Week in Culture: Barry Yourgrau, Writer by Barry Yourgrau John Boyega makes emotional speech to Black Lives Matter protesters in London Good Food Writing; Crazy People by Lorin Stein
2.1077s , 10131.3984375 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【Michael Maien】,Unobstructed Information Network