Picture this: a presidency without Twitter, without Facebook, without scandals. One without mudslinging into a candidate’s past to reveal something trivial or discussing their abilities in bed. Imagine that.
Well, this was the presidency just 20 years ago. Today, everything has changed. We have emerged into the modern world, and so have our leaders.
The Twittersphere, a lovely outlet for Chrissy Teigen to post selfies of her baby, for David Beckham to share his fabulous abs and for Kanye West to unleash his inner psycho-Jesus, is where our President complains and blabbers about his life and job.
His tweets are crass. He specializes in bumper-sticker politics that have no depth. He directs the nation’s frustrations toward trivial material—like controversial SNL skits and former models, tweeting in a way that is simply inappropriate for a person in his position. But that’s how he conducted and won his campaign. Were we really expecting that he would change after the success of his social media tirade delivered him to the Oval Office?
Courtesy of the newest leader of the free world, Donald Trump. This flash of brilliance was composed from his personal Twitter account that has more than 23 million followers and provides Kardashian-esque entertainment for the world to consume, each and every day. In the entire campaign season, in every decision he makes in the White house and in every thought that passes through his mind, is his precious Twitter.
Our political world didn’t start off this way. Thanks to lack of technology, our society never had to consider social-media megaphones while choosing our political leader. There was a time when candidates were judged solely on their ability to debate, their knowledge on policy and government, their prior experience and their hope and will for something better. Their personal lives remained private, their love lives stayed under the covers and their children were sheltered from scrutiny. Understandably, this made for much better and more popular presidencies, as well as less tumultuous relationships with the public. Only those scandals which threatened the effectiveness of the president found their way into homes of families, as not every story was newsworthy.
Gary Hart, a candidate in the 1988 presidential election, had to drop out of the race because he received so much hate for an affair. President Bill Clinton was impeached after the public became interested in his affair. The only reason why President John F. Kennedy was not impeached and in fact adored by the country was because his affairs were kept under-wraps.
We have since transitioned from only four news stations and one newspaper per city to 24-hour news, blogs and feeds that crave and suck in so much information to dissipate across the country. We over-educate ourselves to the max to stimulate ourselves and quench our ever-increasing boredom. This change in scope has greatly affected what we find acceptable in a candidate. Trump proved that he could get elected regardless of scandal, boasting about “grabbing p***y” all the way to the electoral college.
We know all about candidates’ affairs, all about their kids and prior jobs, about their sex life and the medications they pop in the privacy of their bathroom. Isn’t that what makes our country exciting, though?! It’s what draws in ratings, it’s what entertains the public, it’s what generates buzz. Candidates are regular celebrities, and we’ve elected one.
It is, in large part, the fault of social media, and the significance of it in our society. It normalizes the salacious details and scandals that once ended careers, allowing for a lude, crude billionaire-entertainer to bypass moral tests and rise to the top.
The next four years will undoubtedly be the most followed presidential administration in history.
In fact, a new Twitter account has emerged called “@roguePOTUSSTAFF.” It is a group of people satirizing the White House’s updates from the new presidential administration. So the very social media which landed him the presidency has rewarded the public with a new outlet, one that piles further onto the un-funny output of Donald Trump. The Twitter account provides the Twittersphere with fake quotes, conversations and statements made by the administration to create comedic material at the president’s expense.
Sadly, I love it. I love to point to something that calls out inconsistencies (be they made-up) within the terrifyingly elusive White House and what they reveal to the public. But that’s exactly what is so controversial about this new administration. However funny or absurd or serious or rational Trump can be, it is no short of a disaster that his Twitter has such an influence on his real decisions. A president that is not taken seriously is not a successful one; a president that doesn’t take himself seriously is a dangerous one.
Lizi Byrnes-Mandelbaum is a Trinity sophomore. Her column, “dear dystopia” runs on alternate Mondays.
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Lizi Byrnes-Mandelbaum is a Trinity junior. Her column runs on alternate Tuesdays.