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from the why-do-we-let-him-get-away-wiht-this-behavior dept.
Alexander Burns and Maggie Haberman write in The New York Times that, with his enormous online platform of six million followers, Donald Trump has used Twitter to badger and humiliate those who have dared cross him during the presidential race, latching on to their vulnerabilities, mocking their physical characteristics, personality quirks and, sometimes, their professional setbacks. Trump has made statements that have later been exposed as false or deceptive — only after they have ricocheted across the Internet.
For example, Cheri Jacobus, a Republican political strategist, did not think she had done anything out of the ordinary: On a cable television show, she criticized Donald J. Trump for skipping a debate in Iowa in late January and described him as a "bad debater." Trump took to Twitter, repeatedly branding Jacobus as a disappointed job seeker who had begged to work for his campaign and had been rejected. "We said no and she went hostile," Trump wrote. "A real dummy!" Trump's campaign manager told the same story on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." For days, Trump's followers replied to his posts with demeaning, often sexually charged insults aimed at Jacobus, including several with altered, vulgar photographs of her face.
It is not just that Trump has a skill for zeroing in on an individual's soft spot and hammering at it. It is that he sets a tone of aggression against the person, and his supporters echo and amplify it. Jacobus sent a cease-and-desist letter to Trump and his top aide, citing electronic messages that showed the Trump campaign had courted her and not the other way around. "I have been trashed and ruined on Twitter," Jacobus says adding that Trump's lawyers had responded to her letter, but that they had not yet reached a resolution.
This week, Trump sent out a menacing message on Twitter about the Ricketts family, a wealthy clan of Republican political donors, after it was reported that Marlene Ricketts donated $3 million to a group opposed to Trump's candidacy. "They better be careful," Trump wrote of the family, "they have a lot to hide!" "It's a little surreal when Donald Trump threatens your mom," Marlene Ricketts's son, Tom, later told reporters.
"At what point does it cross the line into something that's defamatory and might be actionable?" says Parry Aftab, a lawyer who leads the Internet safety group WiredSafety. "At what point does it cross the line into encouraging violence against groups and individuals?"
(Score: 4, Insightful) by EvilSS on Sunday February 28 2016, @04:53PM
How DARE HE call someone a dummy! How dare he! TRIGGERED!!!
Really though, has it come to this? Are people so thin-skinned that this bullshit is news? The world at large and the internet in particular is not a safe-space, and the rest of the world does not have an obligation to not offend you. Grow the fuck up. If some blow-hard is hurling insults at you like it's recess on the playground, don't stoop to their level and run off to tell teacher! Act like an adult and respond like one.
For the record I'm not a Trump supporter. I think if it comes down to Hillary vs Trump, I'm going to write in "None of the Above" on my ballot, build a bunker, and maybe poke my head out in 4 years to see if there is a country left.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 28 2016, @05:06PM
LOL - when I see or hear "trigger", I want to say, "Bend over bitch, and see if you can trigger THIS!"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 28 2016, @08:32PM
see if you can trigger THIS!"
I always wondered what people meant when they said that some prick was "rapey".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 07 2016, @09:58AM
There's a great use of the word "rapey" in this movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1245492/ [imdb.com] (don't worry, SFW)
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Kilo110 on Sunday February 28 2016, @06:24PM
I don't think you appreciate the full impact of what he's able to do. He can singlehandedly drum up a lynch mob on demand. These kinds of attacks have real life consequences for people. I read this article a few months ago that followed the lives of a couple of people that had social media turn on them. It's an interesting read and shows that even internet posters an ruin lives if enough of them band together. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html?_r=0 [nytimes.com]
It's common to accuse leftward social justice types of using these types of tactics to shame people into falling into lockstep with their ideology. Would you so disregard that if this type of behavior was coming from that camp? That's exactly what's happening here, but it appears the right is just as capable of doing so. This type of behavior shouldn't be condoned or ignored by anyone coming from any direction.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 28 2016, @07:13PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html?_r=0
Going to SoylentNews. Hope I don't get negative karma! Just kidding. I'm Anonymous Coward!
(Score: 2) by BK on Monday February 29 2016, @12:56AM
Soooo what you're saying is that we should fear Trump because he effectively uses the same tactics as his political opponents? And because he's good at it? Shame on you. Shame on us.
https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=14/04/03/1939248 [soylentnews.org]
...but you HAVE heard of me.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 28 2016, @06:33PM
People on twitter think the rest of us give a shit about it. For some reason.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Zz9zZ on Sunday February 28 2016, @08:56PM
For someone mocking the new "trigger" fad it sure seems it is what just happened to you. Nowhere is the word trigger mentioned, or any reference to offensive speech. The closest I could find seemed quite reasonable:
Defamation is not a new concept, and what reaction did Jacobus have which you consider childish?
I would say Trump is the childish one here, he reacts to minor criticism with lies and school yard bully tactics. Public figures are always held to a higher standard, and baseless name calling has always been looked down upon.
~Tilting at windmills~
(Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Monday February 29 2016, @03:15AM
It's because they can't stump him on real issues. That's why they're constantly attacking how he says things almost as much as they attack what he says. This can't be an issues-based race for the GOP, because the other two guys are jokers who can't hold their own without their script and puppet masters.