Donald Trump’s irresponsible tweeting makes him a danger to democracy
Donald Trump has given encouragement to the far right by sharing those antimuslim videos emanating from ‘Britain First’.
He allegedly had no idea who Jayda Fransen was, and didn’t think it was worth checking, since he obviously approved of her Islamophobic worldview.
The trouble with a president who gets his information via Twitter, and who communicates through ill-informed tweets, is that no-one can take him seriously, and this makes him dangerous.
First, because he has the very thin skin of a narcissist, and any criticismor even perceived criticism can evoke a savage response.
Someone whose ego is built on very shaky foundations cannot abide being seen as anything less than perfect, and will lash out like a trapped animal when challenged.
Add to this his promise to “Make America great again”, to regain a glorious past, which goes down well with marginalised sections of American society, and we have the makings of a demagogue.
History has taught us that demagogues can elicit powerful emotional reactions from people, by deliberately eschewing reasoned argument.
I don’t often agree with her party’s policies, but Theresa May was right to rebuke him, however mildly.
It could be seen as a brave move, since we have already lost any meaningful, mutually beneficial connection to Europe post-brexit, and have no-one to blame but ourselves.
Political friendships and alliances shift all the time, but some decisions have more harmful, long-lasting consequences than others.
CAROLYN TAYLOR Wellbank, Broughty Ferry,
Dundee The old war-time posters with the warning “Loose talk costs lives” may need to be updated given twitter and the various forms of ‘social’ media especially for politicians.
We have all sent off that email too swiftly and sometimes to the whole office although the worst that could probably happen is the opportunity to find a new job. The concern is what happens when messages are sent without apparent thought by the world leaders. The passing comment in 1984 by President Reagan that they had solved the Russian problem - “We begin bombing in five minutes” nearly started a nuclear war.
The modern version of quick fire commentary is President Trump’s Twitter account which is perhaps overused. The latest controversial tweet seeming to support British right wing organisations can be considered a poor choice and at least offensive to the British people that he is intending to visit as a ‘friend’.
The words of our leaders should inspire and provide a direction for their citizens to follow, so perhaps they should be few, significant and released through official channels. We do live in a world of twitter and facebook but any significant messages can be resent by a number of systems.
Stop, think, rethink and then speak.