Biden received 'priceless gift' from Trump's silence 0
No more early-morning tweets mocking `Sleepy Joe` or accusations based on information on Fox News.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order at the White House on January 28.
At the White House, Biden administration officials emphasized that their communications strategy has not changed simply because Trump has left and gone silent.
But even if the strategy stays the same, Biden’s team admits Trump’s absence from Twitter makes their job much easier.
`Not having to deal with him posting a new tweet every hour, they feel lucky,` said one adviser.
Twitter’s suspension of Trump’s account after the riot on January 6 helps Biden push his agenda more smoothly.
Trump can no longer call Biden a `loser` for his Covid-19 vaccination plan, or criticize Anthony Fauci as someone he should have fired, when America’s top infectious disease expert takes the stand.
`What has become very clear since Trump’s absence from Twitter is that he has a huge influence in shaping the media,` said Paul Bentz, a Republican strategist in Arizona.
Biden still faces a constant stream of criticism during his short time in office, but nothing can compare to being caught in the `storm` of Trump’s Twitter.
`Trump has an amazing ability to distract people from problems,` said Philip N. Howard, director of the Oxford Internet Institute.
`Trump is like a sinkhole in the media ecosystem, causing journalists to fall into the trap of reporting on unnecessary issues or simply making them tired,` Howard added.
While Trump’s absence from Twitter is a gift for Biden, it could also benefit Republicans.
`What you want is not necessarily good,` said Sam Nunberg, Trump’s former 2016 campaign adviser.
However, recent evidence suggests that Biden will benefit more from Trump’s silence.
Initially, Obama considered Trump’s allegations to be gossip not worth responding to, as he wrote in his 2020 memoir. But when national media paid attention to Trump’s allegations, Obama was forced to release his testimony.
When the Ebola epidemic broke out in West Africa, Trump criticized the Obama administration on Twitter, doubting its ability to contain the epidemic and warning that the pandemic could spread to the United States.
In a tweet, Trump criticized Obama for choosing Ron Klain, who is currently the White House Chief of Staff, to be the official to head the anti-Ebola effort.
For Obama’s team, Trump’s tweets were deeply disturbing and complicated efforts to handle the situation.
Ultimately, Klain was praised for preventing an Ebola outbreak in the US.
Eric Schultz, an Obama-era White House official, said that even if Trump leaves Twitter, the obstacles for Biden are still many, especially that Congress and the country are deeply divided.
`Don’t pretend there’s a smooth road ahead of him,` Schultz said.
But other Democrats were optimistic.
Anzalone believes that the media will be the one to decide whether or not to let Trump continue to play an important role in the news flow now, after the riot on Capitol Hill.
`Will the press continue to report what he says? When will his criticism no longer be noticed? There will come a time when it will simply be a commoner, an angry former president
Phuong Vu (According to Politico)
