Obama chuckles over report that Donald Trump's campaign wrested away his Twitter access

Obama mocks Donald Trump for having Twitter account taken away

(Image credit: Brian Blanco/Getty Images)

last updated 7 November 2016

On Sunday, The New York Times published what it called an inside look at Donald Trump's presidential campaign during its final days. Among the memorable anecdotes — like Trump campaign chairman Steve Bannon's pants actually catching fire — the Times report included this little tidbit about why Trump's campaign has seemed so much more on-message over the last few days, "robbing Hillary Clinton of her most potent weapon: Mr. Trump's self-sabotaging eruptions":

Aides to Mr. Trump have finally wrested away the Twitter account that he used to colorfully — and often counterproductively — savage his rivals. But offline, Mr. Trump still privately muses about all the ways he will punish his enemies after Election Day, including a threat to fund a "super PAC" with vengeance as its core mission. Several advisers warned him that he risked becoming like a wild animal chasing its prey so zealously that it raced over a cliff.... Taking away Twitter turned out to be an essential move by his press team, which deprived him of a previously unfiltered channel for his aggressions. [The New York Times]

This was the anecdote President Obama seized on while campaigning for Hillary Clinton in Florida on Sunday. "If somebody can't handle a Twitter account, they can't handle the nuclear codes," Obama said. "If somebody starts tweeting at 3:00 in the morning because SNL made fun of you, then you can't handle the nuclear codes."

Trump is trailing in the polls and his aides and advisers "know that his chances of winning the election are iffy," especially now that the FBI has deprived them of "perhaps their best hope," the Times reports. But Trump plans to get the last laugh, because his aides "maintain that there is unseen money and muscle behind Mr. Trump's political operation — and a level of sophistication that outsiders, and people who have run traditional campaigns, cannot fully appreciate." Read the entire colorful account of Trump's campaign at The New York Times.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.