The company you tweet with says a lot about you.
There are a millions of people on Twitter now, and you can take your pick of some choice tweeting partners. You can follow the POTUS, the SCOTUS, major politicians, foreign heads of state, human rights leaders, science wonks, journalists, scholars, the Pope, the Dalai Lama, Lady Gaga… You name a person or organization, and he/she/it has a Twitter account.
Donald Trump is a serious user of Twitter. It is an important conduit of his message. He’s on Twitter all the damn time. But all political candidates are on Twitter these days; even I get their tweets.
On Twitter you have “followers,” or people who subscribe to your tweets, Donald Trump has 9.45 million people following him, more than Hillary Clinton, with 7.23 mil, or Bernie Sanders, who has 2.72 mil. Twitter users also have people whom they follow, i.e. subscribe to their tweet messages.
Who do current presidential candidates follow on Twitter?
Bernie Sanders follows 1490 people and organizations on his campaign account (he has others), including Jane Sanders, labor unions and locals (a great many), advocates for undocumented youth, ACLU associates, the Southern Poverty Law Center, college professors, teachers’ associations, Coders for Sanders, Million Student March, nurses, the NAACP, the National Urban League, Voto Latino and other Latino orgs, a great many local and state Democratic Party orgs, many Progressive groups, various Green orgs, Anonymous, The Atlantic, the Guardian, the Associated Press and other major news media, many newspaper and broadcast editors & reporters. He follows Rachel Maddow, Jake Tapper, Donna Brazile, Katrina Van den Heuvel, Andy Borowitz, Matt Taibbi, Jeet Heer, Josh Marshall, Chris Higgins, Robert Scheer, David Corn, Naomi Wolf, Michael Moore, Margaret Cho, Pope Francis, Pussy Riot, Spike Lee, Colin Hanks, Danny DeVito, Stephen Colbert, Sir Ian McKellan, Sir Patrick Stewart, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover, Dick Van Dyke, Nancy Sinatra, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, David Axelrod, Robert Reich, Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Erin Brockovich (the real one), ambassador to the U.S. Christos Panagopoulos, obscure moosey Vermont political bloggers, self-described Progressive dog lovers, Socialist foodies, and hundreds of other correspondents, some of whom, like Zenna, mother and peace activist, use only their first names.
Hillary Clinton follows 671 people & groups on Twitter, including Bill and Chelsea Clinton, the POTUS, the SCOTUS, legislators state and national, some veteran Clintonistas, several labor unions, Dolores Huerta, co-co-founder United Farm Workers, Women in Public Service, the Human Rights Campaign, state Hillary campaigns orgs in CO, FL, IA, ID, ME, NC, NH, NV, NY, OH, PA, SC, VA, WI, and WY, many Hillary For America campaign staffers, many local Democratic organizers, the White House, many, many college students’ Elect Hillary orgs, women’s rights orgs, gay rights orgs, Latino orgs, children’s health orgs, an advocacy group for at-risk teens, and the Girl Scouts of America. She follows Olympic medalist Carl Lewis, Tom Hanks, Billie Jean King, Amy Schumer, Pam Grier, Caitlin Jenner, Oprah, Ellen, General Wesley Clark, USA (ret), Women in Military Service (WIMSA), Planned Parenthood, retired Democratic officials, retired NASA astronaut Mark Kelly, Girls Who Write Code, assorted wonks, DogLovers4Hillary, and as-yet-unidentified persons w/cat picture profiles.
HRC’s tweetlist is light on news sources, but then, she can read papers and I imagine she does.
Judging by whom they subscribe to, the two candidates above have many interests, seek input from a wide variety of sources, and are deeply engaged with the world of people and politics.
As a billionaire running for President and a heavy Twitter user, candidate Trump one would expect to be hooked up to important news outlets, opinion makers, big-time Republicans and business leaders, celebrities of course, and as a guy running as a champion of the people, perhaps even a few token working stiffs. Does Trump follow 1,400 or 600 people? 300? 100?
Donald Trump, with his 9.47 million followers, follows 41 people on Twitter. They are:
Family:
- Melania Trump
- Donald Trump Jr.
- Eric Trump
- Ivanka Trump
- Vanessa Trump & Lara Trump , daughters-in-law
News Media:
- Drudge Report
- Fox Nation
- Ann Coulter, reactionary hate-monger
- Greta Van Susteren, FoxNews anchor, Trump fluffer
- Eric Bolling, FoxNews financial commentator, Trump shill
- Bill O'Reilly, FoxNews personality, Trump fluffer, likens DJT to JFK
- Sean Hannity, FoxNews personality, so far up Trump’s ass he’s no longer visible
- Joe Scarborough, MSNBC talk show host with whom Trump is feuding
- Mika Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, not a Trump shill
- Geraldo Rivera, FoxNews Trump fluffer, once appeared on Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice.”
Business Interests:
- Hotels: Trump Vegas, Trump New York, Trump Panama, Trump Chicago , Trump Washington DC, Trump Waikiki, Trump Los Angeles, Trump SoHo (nothing but ads)
- Trump Charlotte (a private golf course)
Charitable Organizations:
- The Eric Trump Foundation
Sports & Entertainment Figures
- Gary Player, Grand Slam golfer
- Magic Johnson, basketball legend
- Vince McMahon, Chair & CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment
- Piers Morgan, TV host, appeared on Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice
- Katrina Campins, appeared on The Apprentice
- Mark Burnett, reality tv show mogul, associated with “Survivor and The Apprentice, husband of Roma Downey (see below)
- “Diamond and Silk,” a YouTube video-blogging duo who boarded the Trump train after the first GOP debate, apparently because Megyn Kelly was unfair.
Trump Presidential Campaign:
- @OfficialTeamTrump
- Katrina Pierson, Official National Campaign Spokeswoman
- Michael Cohen, The Trump Organization EVP and Special Counsel to Donald J. Trump
- Dan Scavino, Director of Social Media & Senior Advisor
- Corey Lewandowski, Former campaign mgr, still followed, although “fired”
Spiritual Consultant:
- Roma Downey, actress and producer of Christian themed tv and movies (Touched By an Angel), a showbiz evangelist, married to Mark Burnett.
That’s it, folks. Apart from his bond with family members, which is nice, let us grant that, this is a portrait of utter impoverishment, social, cultural, mental, and political.
For news coverage and analysis, Trump follows a few right-wing sources: Drudge, Hannity, Ann Coulter. No major newspaper, not even the WSJ or FT, no Reuters, AP, BBC, etc. No wonder he never heard of Brexit until the day of the vote. Perhaps Trump may read newspapers, but he doesn’t come off as much of a reading man. His discourse, whether in tweets or in public speech, is vague and sketchy as to facts, poorly informed as to current events and invariably attacks opponents with simpleminded personal abuse and whatever right-wing internet memes come readily to hand.
Trump solicits tweets from a string of hotels, but not from a single charitable or humanitarian organization, apart from the Eric Trump Foundation. No Armed Services or veterans’ groups, no educational group or school, nobody in science or technology, nobody in the arts except for a couple of showbiz cronies from his days as a television celebrity.
As for Trump’s campaign staff, reporters have been noting for months the total lack of hands-on operatives and GOTV infrastructure in every state. And his tweetlist epitomizes this state of affairs: there is one campaign director, one special counsel, one social media adviser, and Corey Lewandowski. That’s it.
Paul Manafort, not followed by Trump, is either too old-fashioned, or, more likely, too smart to tweet out every thought that enters his mahogany-dyed head. Lewandowski, whose skillset is different, remains on Trump’s tweetlist despite his alleged dismissal last week. Whether or not he remains on the Trump payroll after his alleged dismissal, Corey does continue to work for his old boss.
Interestingly, Trump follows tweets from no political figures whatsoever. None. A man running for President follows tweets from his private golf course—one imagines him getting messages along the lines of “@realDonaldTrump Mr. Trump my greens are soggy from storm last night but still playable” But not the Republican Party chair, not a single elected or party official, not even supporters Jeff Sessions or Chris Christie. He doesn’t even follow Nigel Farage or Marine Le Pen. The fact that Donald Trump’s relationship with most American politicians is less than cordial is nothing to the point; for someone with his aspirations this self-imposed bell-jar is mystifying. No, it’s downright bizarre.
Given his isolation and lack of staff support, It is a tribute to Trump’s diligence and enthusiasm for the Twitter medium that he still manages to ferret out antisemitic images from white supremacist websites to tweet to an astonished world. It hardly matters whether he visits these sites himself or has help, since he personally approves the product.
If tweet follows are any index, and I make no authoritative claim for them, the candidate above has few interests, seeks input from very few sources, and remains isolated from the world of people and politics.
I don’t imagine that these are earthshaking revelations; I just decided to blog them after spending several hours scrolling down Twitter pages. This is only the evidence of Twitter accounts, after all; there are other means of communication. Trump may have Chairman Priebus, Speaker Ryan, the entire Republican Party leadership, Iraq War Veterans, and Stephen Hawking on speed-dial; he may read eight or nine newspapers front to back every day, and pal around with the common folk every chance he gets. What do you think?