Can Hillary Clinton out-tweet Donald Trump?
When Hillary Clinton told Donald Trump on Thursday to delete his Twitter account, invoking a well-worn social media jab, it was a long time coming, according to a report by Politico published Friday.
Donald Trump's social media prowess has been widely covered during the 2016 election, as the mogul's unabashed (and at times, unedited) use of the micro-blogging platform has allowed him to respond to rumors instantaneously, shape the media narrative, brand his opponents unforgettably, and engage with his millions of followers. And while Trump has been an avid Twitter user since 2009, Clinton only joined the site in 2013.
So how does Team Clinton plan to beat Trump at his own game? The Clinton campaign apparently stockpiles GIFs, videos, and other media, keeping the materials on deck so that they can be deployed at a moment's notice. When Clinton gave a no-holds-barred speech on June 2 attacking Trump, for example, her campaign bet that Trump wouldn't be able to resist calling out Clinton on Twitter. They were right, and Clinton's account quickly sent out a ready-made list refuting Trump's rebuttal.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"The Clinton campaign is particularly good at planning to be spontaneous," Twitter spokesman Nick Pacilio told Politico — which sounds perfectly Hillary Clinton-esque. Read the whole breakdown of Hillary Clinton's social media strategy at Politico.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
-
Will California’s Proposition 50 kill gerrymandering reform?Talking Points Or is opposing Trump the greater priority for voters?
-
‘The trickle of shutdowns could soon become a flood’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Wikipedia: Is ‘neutrality’ still possible?Feature Wikipedia struggles to stay neutral as conservatives accuse the site of being left-leaning
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
-
Trump nominee in limbo after racist texts leakSpeed Read Paul Ingrassia lost Republican support following the exposure of past racist text messages
-
Trump begins East Wing demolition for ballroomspeed read The president’s new construction will cost $250 million
-
Appeals court clears Trump’s Portland troop deploymentSpeed Read A divided federal appeals court ruled that President Trump can send the National Guard to Portland
-
Millions turn out for anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ ralliesSpeed Read An estimated 7 million people participated, 2 million more than at the first ‘No Kings’ protest in June
-
DOJ indicts John Bolton over classified filesSpeed Read Continuing the trend of going after his political enemies, Trump prosecutes his former national security adviser
-
Trump, Putin set summit as Zelenskyy lands in DCSpeed Read Trump and Putin have agreed to meet in Budapest soon to discuss ending the war in Ukraine
-
Courts deal setbacks to Trump’s Chicago operationsSpeed Read President Donald Trump cannot deploy the National Guard in Illinois
