"Where's the President?"
President Donald Trump uses his social media platform (specifically, Twitter) to share his views on subjects concerning religion, mass shootings, natural disasters, and sports. During the course of his election, Donald Trump used his twitter to get attention from the public. In turn, the public adjusted to this form of communication, using Trumps twitter as a resource for information. In this article, author Avi Selk comments on Trump's lackluster response to the wildfires in Northern California.
Over the past three weeks, CNN counted 16 sports tweets by Donald Trump yet, not one on the issue of California. What does this mean? According to Avi Selk, it may mean that Donald Trump is not interested in the problems California is facing. In addition to Califorinia, Trump did not release any tweets about Puerto Rico. After an accusation arose that Trump did not care, Trump began to share tweets about Puerto Rico. California on the other hand, has still not receieved any tweets.
As shown in the image provided, people across the world are using their social media platforms to grow awarness for California. According to the article, Californians had only hoped that their president would participate in growing awareness. Unfortunately, Trump has only made one public statement about the wildfires.
While this article does not necessarily agree with Donald Trump, it is not biased. The author comments on an instance when former President, Barack Obama was golfing at a resort while Louisiana was facing serious floods. For this reason, this is an article is important because it provides information about the California wildwifes, and executive involvment on national issues all through the voice of a politically moderate author.
Questions:
1. Has twitter impacted the way people get political information?
2. Do you think that Donald Trump handled the California wildfires appropriately ?
3. Why is it important for the President to address national issues to the public?
2. Do you think that Donald Trump handled the California wildfires appropriately?
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Donald Trump is handling the California wildfires appropriately, as the article states it seems like Trump is ignoring the devastation in California because of the states political preference. When the hurricanes hit both Texas and Florida there was no hesitation to help, but as California continues to burn he has not acknowledged the issues that come with this.
1.) I do think that with this administration (not really with past administrations) Twitter and social media have impacted the way a portion of the population get political information. For younger people in particular who statistically have demonstrated a limited interest in reading the newspaper or watching news other than infotainment in general, Twitter and other social media have made information about surface level politics easily available, but it is clear that this information isn’t always credible or true. I believe this phenomenon of people getting political information from social media is contributing to an uninformed or misinformed public in instances where social media is the only source of news people look to.
ReplyDelete3. The President needs to address national issues to the public to provide a sense of reassurance and safety. Especially with the current natural disasters and violent storms, it is important to acknowledge the struggles people are facing. In fact, it could be argued that these shared problems are the only things that unify people of opposing groups. When there is a massive fire or tremendous flood, it does't matter if you are a democrat or republican, people will work together to get through it. So really, by not acknowledging these national issues, President Trump is just missing an opportunity to gain popularity and power from his citizens.
ReplyDelete3. It is important for the President to address national issues because it brings those issues to the public attention which can result in three things: providing financial support for those issues, preventing those national issues from occurring the first place, and calming the public. Americans expect their president to "step forward with empathy and resolve in moments of national trauma".
ReplyDelete3. In the United States, the president has an incredibly important role. Though his powers are not as expansive as they are in other places such as monarchies and dictatorships, he still combines the many functions of heads of state in other countries. For example, in England, the Queen is kind of seen as an ambassadorial presence, with the PM focused more on domestic issues and hard politics. In the US, the President serves as both the figurehead and an important political leader. As the most important man in the Western world, the president of the US has huge exposure. When Trump tweets about certain companies, the effect he has on their stocks is palpable. He can draw attention to everything, and raising awareness for the suffering of Californians is something good that he can do with his visibility.
ReplyDelete2. I believe that Donald Trump is not handling the California wild fires correctly. As a president he has an important job on commenting about the disastrous fire that is effecting over 100,00 people in California. Trump did not step up and comment anything regarding the fire and instead according to the article tweeted about sports. The general public usually gets their political information from social media and especially with President Trump he likes to use his twitter platform to express his opinions. From all his nonsense tweets there was not one regarding the fires. In my opinion the least the President could have done was acknowledge the devastating fires and tweet his hopes for the well being of all the individuals in California who were being negatively effected by these fires.
ReplyDelete3. In the US, because power is vested not in one person but in many, it's often difficult for people to look up to a leader. That's why the President is the moral figurehead of the nation (one of his roles according to the book, might I add). He is leader that, although not directly responsible for addressing every issue politically, must be at the forefront of advocating for peace and recovery in times of crisis. Donald Trump is not investing enough of his valuable time into addressing such major issues. His attacks on party members and celebrities is hard evidence that Donald Trump has not embraced his role as a moral leader. The California fire was chaotic and displaced many people. So, in times like these (in Puerto Rico, Florida, anywhere!), Donald Trump should put down the phone and provide genuine guidance. He should make speeches, visit, and push for helpful legislation.
ReplyDelete3- In a time of crisis people need someone to look up to and feel like they are getting the help they deserve. After any big event the President should address the nation in some sort of public manner (not a tweet) and tell the people suffering that help is coming. When the affected people see that they will be getting help from the most powerful man in the country, they will feel secure. The President and the government should always respond quickly to disasters because that is their job, protection of the people. Plus the President can assume credit for helping everyone out.
ReplyDeleteMadeline Tragoutsis
ReplyDelete3. In the United States and even throughout the rest of the world, the President is the most powerful figure. He needs to address nation issues to inform and inspire the public. Also, if national issues are tragic, he needs to be there to mourn with the public to decrease the amount of anger and fright. It is so important that he address national issues so that he can be the figure that unites everyone to make a change, provide support, or go against and issue.
3. As we learned during the presidential unit, one of the most important tools of the president is his ability to reach a large portion of the public and his status as a well-known, oft-revered member of the political elite. By calling attention to potentially life-threatening issues, be they AIDS, wildfires, or other natural/biological disasters, they increase public awareness for the issue, stimulate funding, and set an agenda for their government.
ReplyDeleteDonald Trump definitely has not handled the California wildfires appropriately. Trump is often recognized for his loudness on social media platforms regarding his “protests of other attacks--and criticism of Arnold Schwarzenegger,” but his lack of tweets for the California wildfires is comparable to his lack of response to Puerto Rico, wherein critics accused him of ignoring the damages from the hurricane. This lack of emphasis on the natural disaster was found to be “incommensurate to the attention he paid other topics.” The fact that he has tweeted about sports more than the wildfire that has taken more than 40 lives itself proves that Trump’s handling of the situation was both lackluster and, frankly speaking, quite insensitive to those who have lost their family in the disaster.
ReplyDelete1. Twitter is used as a platform for people to receive information. Donald Trump communicates with the public mainly using Twitter. People are confused why he has not tweeted about the wildfires for valid reasons. It becomes a question of, why does Trump tweet about such unimportant things (at times) and not a significant and disastrous event. Had he tweeted, it is possible and likely that this would have raised awareness of these fires and more people would have provided donations.
ReplyDelete3. While I understand that the president cannot keep up with and address every single issue in the country, I think that it is their responsibility to try to pay attention to a diverse range of issues in all parts of the country, especially in the case of Donald Trump. Donald Trump is very biased and only sees things from one side. He is so quick to tweet about and exaggerate issues regarding terrorism and guns - things that can help him to prove a point. I think he intentionally chose not to address the wildfires as they did not give him any sort of angle and possibly could have resulted in criticism about climate change.
ReplyDelete3. The President and the government as a whole needs to keep the public informed on current events and issues in order to reassure them and give them updates. There is a specific reason why the Constitution has the State of the Union Speech in it and that reason is to keep the public up to date on what is going on in the government and in the country.
ReplyDelete1) By using Twitter, Trump has opened people to gain much more access into Politics. Trump has been known to tweet about many political affairs. Therefore, it is now easier than ever to follow the political landscape, and it much less daunting for people to follow Trump on twitter than to continuously follow CNN of Fox News.
ReplyDelete1) By using Twitter, Trump has opened people to gain much more access into Politics. Trump has been known to tweet about many political affairs. Therefore, it is now easier than ever to follow the political landscape, and it much less daunting for people to follow Trump on twitter than to continuously follow CNN of Fox News.
ReplyDelete3. It is important for the president to address national issues to the public because he is our leader. Many Americans look to him to learn more about what is happening in our country and many follow him. If the president says something is a big deal many people will follow that and believe it as well. His role in informing the public is crucial.
ReplyDelete1.) Twitter has not so much impacted our sources of information regarding catastrophic events, rather it has given the general population a direct line to the president's thoughts. Trump is the first president to use social media frequently, and its effects are clearly seen, as people mock and quote his tweets constantly. And while it has given many in America a better understanding of their president, it is quite unprofessional. In this way, it has altered the way in which I perceive the president.
ReplyDelete1. I think that the use of Twitter as a presidential platform has radically changed the way we respond to political news. Twitter is full of jokes and funny memes, and is supposed to be a social media platform like Facebook or Instagram. It sends the wrong message to have news about serious and dangerous wildfires in the midst of comical posts. I think the use of twitter is de-emphsizing the seriousness of these kinds of situations. It should not be the platform the president uses to communicate with the American people.
ReplyDelete1. I think that this election is a good way of showing how social media such as twitter can change the outcomes of elections. Donald Trump who is a big user of twitter, often used it during his campaign. This was a great way to spread information and make yourself known to others. However, I do think it needs to be more monitored because it isn't too classy.
ReplyDelete1. Twitter has tremendously impacted the way we get political information. It is one of the only platforms in which new can instantly be spread to millions in mere seconds. Furthermore, by posting out of the ordinary comments, one can gain popularity and thus get further support.
ReplyDelete1. I think that Twitter has definitely impacted access to political information, but in a negative way. Social networking sites like Twitter are designed to feed our interests, not the truth. Rather than receiving information from credible sources (like NY Times or WSJ), people get their political news from Twitter, which tends to be more liberal and not necessarily accurate (and this is coming from someone who holds very liberal beliefs).
ReplyDelete