Read on Twitter
In honor of the old adage "You are what you tweet", I have analyzed the president's tweets from last month as our nation faces unprecedented times, including numerous racial justice protests all around the country and a public health crisis that has killed over 100,000 Americans.
In the month of May, the president tweeted 1083 times.
The mean (±SD) number of tweets per day was 35 ± 21, averaging to about three per hour for a 12-hour “work” day. The day with the largest number of tweets was May 10th, which was Mother’s Day. He tweeted 125 times.
The mean (±SD) number of tweets per day was 35 ± 21, averaging to about three per hour for a 12-hour “work” day. The day with the largest number of tweets was May 10th, which was Mother’s Day. He tweeted 125 times.
65% of @realDonaldTrump tweets are re-tweets. Of those, 11% are self re-tweets, and 7% are White House re-tweets. These do not include re-tweets by other Trump affiliated accounts, including Team Trump or War Room Trump.
Here is the breakdown of Trump tweets by category:
Note that these do not add up to 100% because Trump often addresses multiple issues within a single tweet - for example, a tweet about the #FakeNewsMedia and the #RussianCollusion “hoax” or a tweet about #COVID19 that function as a form of self-promotion.
Within the sub-category of ‘attacking others’, here are how those topics broke down:
Over the last month, Trump targeted specifically-named people and Democrats the most.
Also of note is that he has attacked U.S. institutions, including the FBI and DOJ, more than other countries.
Also of note is that he has attacked U.S. institutions, including the FBI and DOJ, more than other countries.
When we look at the specific people Trump attacked by tweet, here is what those data look like:
By far the person who he has directed the majority of his attacks at is @BarackObama (110/348). Second runner-up is @JoeBiden (98/348). But he has also directed his ire at the two of them in combination 21 times.
Other notable targets include @RepAdamSchiff (22/348), @Comey (20/348), @SpeakerPelosi (15/348), @HillaryClinton (11/348), and various state reps (29/348).
Over 36% of Trump's tweets last month targeted people of color, including @IlhanMN and @AmbassadorRice.
Within the sub-category of propaganda, here are how those topics broke down:
Nearly a quarter of Trump’s total tweets in the month of May involved Russia.
Among these 532 Russian conspiracy tweets,
34 mention or allude to #Obamagate
18 refer to spying and FISA
84 mention #Flynn, trying to spin a narrative of his innocence and persecution
Among these 532 Russian conspiracy tweets,
34 mention or allude to #Obamagate
18 refer to spying and FISA
84 mention #Flynn, trying to spin a narrative of his innocence and persecution
38% of Trump’s tweets about Russia involved discrediting U.S. institutions, either by calling them out directly or by mentioning names of top officials within them. The @FBI received the largest percent of these conspiratorial attacks (68%), with the DOJ being 2nd runner-up (17%)
When considering all of Trump's tweets in the month of May
Over 10% of them involved targeting the media & journalists
Over 9% of them involved putting a positive spin on his handling of the #coronavirus pandemic in the U.S.
And 24 of them referenced a “hoax” of some kind
Over 10% of them involved targeting the media & journalists
Over 9% of them involved putting a positive spin on his handling of the #coronavirus pandemic in the U.S.
And 24 of them referenced a “hoax” of some kind
Within the sub-category of ‘self-promotion’, here are how those 350 tweets broke down -
Portraying himself as the victim: 40 times
Bringing up his poll numbers: 15 times
Bringing up his approval ratings: 9 times
Portraying himself as the victim: 40 times
Bringing up his poll numbers: 15 times
Bringing up his approval ratings: 9 times
Examples of excessive retweets that involve self-promotion include #MAGA boaters in Florida, which Trump tweeted and re-tweeted about six times.
He also tweeted the same video of the “crowd size” in PA at a recent visit three times.
He also tweeted the same video of the “crowd size” in PA at a recent visit three times.
Of the 18 tweets that he sent out that showed concern for others, four of those involved self-promotion.
For example, “At my request, FBI and DOJ investigating sad and tragic death of George Floyd”.
He could easily have left himself out but chose not to.
For example, “At my request, FBI and DOJ investigating sad and tragic death of George Floyd”.
He could easily have left himself out but chose not to.
Of the 100 tweets recognizing the efforts of others, 21 of them involved self-promotion.
For example, "Congratulations to author Nick Adams on ...your new book, “Trump and Churchill, Defenders of Western Civilization”. Certainly a great honor to be compared...to Churchill...”
For example, "Congratulations to author Nick Adams on ...your new book, “Trump and Churchill, Defenders of Western Civilization”. Certainly a great honor to be compared...to Churchill...”
Less than 20% of Trump’s tweets last month concerned the #coronavirus or #COVID19, despite the global health pandemic and death of over 40,000 Americans between May 1st and 31st.
When he did tweet about the coronavirus and COVID, here is what those tweets concerned:
When he did tweet about the coronavirus and COVID, here is what those tweets concerned:
The overwhelming majority of Trump's 209 tweets on #COVID19 and the #coronavirus involved positive spin of how he and his administration have handled the public health crisis facing the nation. Over 40% of these tweets involved self-promotion.
For example, when discussing CARES funding, he would at times use language such as “I am proud to announce...” or “I am proud to support” with the amount of taxpayer money being given to various agencies/states/cities, as though it was from his own checkbook & not taxpayer money.
For every 1 tweet about grief over the American lives lost due to the #COVID19 pandemic, there were 11 tweets about civil liberties by @realDonaldTrump last month.
On the topic of race, he tweeted 5 times about the Biden comment about black people and 6 self-promoting tweets about his black and hispanic #MAGA supporters.
Trump has tweeted 12 times about #GeorgeFloyd but admonished protestors 35 times.
Trump has tweeted 12 times about #GeorgeFloyd but admonished protestors 35 times.
One single tweet can tell a story. But only by looking at multiple tweets over time can a constellation emerge.
