We Really Should Not Be Encouraging a Twitter Presidency

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I suppose this is about 157th on the list of things to worry about from a Trump presidency, but I still have to wonder: Are we going to continue giving Trump’s tweets the same banner treatment that we gave to the Hindenburg disaster? Shouldn’t the press have a little more self-respect than that? If the guy won’t talk to them, and instead relies on tweets that sound like they were written by a fourth grader (“The failing @nytimes story is so totally wrong on transition. It is going so smoothly. Also, I have spoken to many foreign leaders.”)—well, maybe they should be given no more than the attention they deserve. Which is to say, about the amount that the press gave to Barack Obama’s tweets. Which is to say, none.

UPDATE: Here’s an idea. Instead of going crazy over every Trump tweet, maybe the Washington Post should inaugurate a regular feature: Today’s Presidential Tweets. Every day, on page A14, they could have a box that reprints all of Trump’s tweets for the previous day, along with a fact check for each of them. Something like this:

Pretty good idea, huh?

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And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

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