Between Trump Communications Director Jason Miller’s resignation following an alleged adultery scandal and incoming Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s response to the “new King” debacle,” the recently appointed White House communications team is already rife with conflict. Then again, this is the president-elect we’re talking about, so none of these stories should come as a surprise — especially to anyone who’s covered the presidential campaign since Trump took his famous escalator ride down to the podium in July 2015.
Yet when Spicer told WPRI he thought Trump’s continued use of Twitter would be “a really exciting part of the job,” even the most tried-and-true political reporters probably did a double take. Not so much because the incoming press secretary is wrong, mind you, but because of how pivotal the @realDonaldTrump handle has been to so many of the campaign’s, and transition team’s, most controversial moments. If President Trump’s tweets will be “really exciting,” then what have all of his previous posts been?
Despite this and the many potential security risks Trump’s personal account poses, Spicer told WPRI his presidency would continue to make use of the account:
“I think that his use of social media in particular… is going to be something that’s never been seen before. He has this direct pipeline to the American people, where he can talk back and forth with almost 17 million people on Twitter. Combined with Facebook and Instagram, it’s well over 40 million. I think that allows him to add an element of a conversation that’s never occurred. He can put his thoughts out and hear what they’re thinking in a way that no one’s ever been able to do before.”
Aside from the fact Spicer’s claims completely ignore the existence of the @POTUS account, which President Barack Obama’s administration created, the idea that Trump’s tweets “add an element of a conversation” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Why? For many reasons, including the fact that not many actual conversations include the words “f*ck,” “me” and “daddy” — in that particular order. Oh, Twitter.
Check out the full interview below.