Last updated on September 4th, 2018 at 01:16 pm
Trump broke his own previous record sending out 46 tweets in August declaring various things “fake or phony.”
NPR analyzed Trump‘s tweets and found, “An NPR analysis found that in the month of August, Trump sent out 46 tweets containing the words “fake” or “phony,” far surpassing his previous record. (Two of the tweets were later deleted to fix typos)….In June 2018, a month with 31 “fake” or “phony” tweets, Trump took issue with coverage of the Singapore summit with North Korea, family separation along the U.S.–Mexico border and, as usual, the Russia investigation.”
Here is the chart of Trump‘s increasing declarations of fake:
If it seems like President Trump is declaring more things fake and phony more frequently, it’s because he is. And August set a record. https://t.co/IqaAGvo4w5 pic.twitter.com/1x3rGulBCb
— Tamara Keith (@tamarakeithNPR) September 2, 2018
In the month of August Trump declared books, Google Search, the Steele Dossier, and his Lester Holt interview on NBC News, among other things to be fake.
Trump has a motive for declaring things fake
Fake serves two purposes for Trump. When Trump declares something fake, he is trying to discredit it, like the Russia investigation and news stories. Trump also uses declaring fake for the political purpose of rallying his base. Trump has been trying to rally Republicans to his side by declaring that Google is discriminating against Republicans through fake search results.
It might seem like the crazy president is just reacting to all bad news by declaring it fake, but there is a motive to what Trump is doing. Donald Trump is following the Fox News model to the letter. Fox monopolized cable news viewership by telling Republicans that they were the only source for truth. Other media outlets could not be trusted because they had an agenda against conservatives.
Trump is doing the same thing. He is telling Republicans that they can’t trust what they see and read. He has gone beyond what Fox News did and told Republicans that they couldn’t believe Google search results.
Like any good cult leader, Trump is trying to convince the Republican Party that he is the source of all truth and that they should only follow him.
The “fake” tweets are a tool that Trump uses to attack his “enemies” and keep his hold on his followers.
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Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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