‘Trump to use Twitter with same gusto in Oval Office’
US President-elect Donald Trump. (Source: Reuters) US President-elect Donald Trump. (Source: Reuters)
US President-elect Donald Trump will continue using Twitter with the same gusto he has displayed to date because his tweets get “results”, the mogul’s future press secretary, Sean Spicer, said on Sunday. EFE news quoted Spicer as telling ABC that the President-elect did not need to have his comments filtered through the “mainstream media”.
“You know, with all due respect, I think it freaks the mainstream media out that he has this following of over 45-plus million people that follow him on social media, that he can have a direct conversation. He doesn’t have to have it funnelled through the media,” Spicer said. Trump’s Twitter account, specifically, has more than 18 million followers.
The future Press Secretary’s remarks contrast with those of Trump himself in his first interview after winning the November 8 election, when he said that he would limit his use of Twitter and promised, instead of using it, to comport himself in a more prudent manner. “I’m going to be very restrained, if I use it at all, I’m going to be very restrained. I find it tremendous. It’s a modern form of communication,” he said at the time.
However, the real-estate magnate has not appeared to curtail his tweets and in December remarked on the social network that the United States should “strengthen and expand” its nuclear capacity until “the world comes to its senses regarding nukes”, a comment that drew much criticism because of fears that such a course of action would spark a nuclear arms race.
He also tweeted about the UN that “the United Nations has such great potential but right now it is just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. So sad!” His UN comment came after the Security Council on December 23 decided to demand that Israel stop establishing settlements on Palestinian territory, a decision the US allowed by refusing to veto it.