On Sunday Morning, (9/16) President Trump retweeted a GIF of him hitting a golf ball that strikes Hillary Clinton. This isn’t the first time Trump has tweeted a risky GIF; in the past he has shared images of a train hitting a cartoon person with the CNN logo over its head and another of him body slamming a figure with the CNN logo. His tweet has received a lot of criticism with people accusing him of “chipping away at the dignity of the office.” On the other hand, supporters address the critics saying: “Get a sense of freaking humor. Everyone on the LEFT defended stupid Kathy Griffin when she held a "severed" head & said it was comedy.”
Do you think the President’s tweets can be compared to Kathy Griffin’s (a comedian) tweets? Does it matter that Griffin is a comedian and Trump isn’t? Should it matter? This connects back to the topic of free speech and hate speech we have been discussing in class. Where does this fall in terms of free speech and hate speech? Where do you draw the line between the two?
10 comments:
I don't really think this is hate speech because I don't really consider memes hate speech (especially when they are gifs), but nevertheless, I do not condone behavior like this. At this point, I think it's kind of expected for Trump to post ridiculous things that many people either disapprove of or mock. I think it's also normal for political competitors to slander each other, but I mean... he already won. Obviously it isn't necessary to tweet something like that, but it definitely doesn't strike me as odd. I think that there is a difference between a comedian's tweets and the president's tweets. While a comedian does things for comedic purpose, he is in a high power of position and you would think that he would consider the consequences of tweeting trivial things like that. He also needs a social media manager, or some common sense.
I do not think that the Trump's tweets can be compared to Kathy Griffin's tweets because she is know to be a comedian, whereas I think that Trump's first and foremost job is that of the President of the United States. I do not think that a GIF is really all that important, it's literally just a GIF. I'm assuming that much of the criticism Trump is receiving is a result of the fact that twitter is a platform many are aware he commonly uses without filtering through a social media manager, although I do agree he should probably hire one, like Elena suggested.
However, back to addressing the question, Trump's little joke is not an example of hate speech, in my opinion. I think it was just unnecessary, and people are making a big deal out of it because he's the President of the United States and still makes childish maneuvers through social media.
As current President, it was incredibly unprofessional of Trump to tweet such GIF. His duty and first priority is to ensure the Nation's well-being, not spend hours on Twitter behaving like a petty teenager (I mean the man is 71 years old!). While Kathy Griffin's tweet was also very graphic and unnecessary, it does not compare to Trump's tweet. His tweet is offensive and childish for it directly attacks his opponent during the election. It has always been made clear that both candidates ought to respect each other and the outcome of the election and from the beginning, Trump did not seem to be on board with this. With so many intense natural disasters going on around the world, THAT is what Trump needs to be focusing on and dedicating his time to. As Nora said, Trump's tweet was not necessarily hate speech but it was unprofessional and unnecessary. Additionally, given the liberal audience Twitter attracts, Trump knew better.
In no way does a funny gif count as hate speech. However, it seems that our president is still campaigning rather than trying to govern; presidential twitter accounts should be used to inform the public.
When I first saw the news about the video and the video itself, it actually did not come as such a huge shock to me. Due to Trump’s history of ridiculous comments and tweets, in a way I was not surprised by the content of this video. I don’t believe his tweet can be compared to Griffin’s as the two are of completely different status — the president’s actions can’t possibly and does not hold the same weight of merely a comedian’s. It isn’t the same for the president to make fun of or attack someone else as it is for a comedian to do so. Like others stated above, I don’t think it was a form of hate speech as it just seemed like a joke.
What Trump tweeted was definitely not professional or presidential, but at the same time it is not close to being hate speech either. It is pretty difficult to compare a comedians joke to a presidents joke, even though Griffins joke can be seen as much more offensive. The joke he retweeted is nothing more than a GIF on the internet. Trump had no intent to attack or hurt anybody so it cannot be seen as a huge deal, even though it is somewhat unprofessional
Ultimately Trump didn't really attack Clinton's character, though he does need a better sense of humor. In a similar manner to Griffin, I think he tweeted this GIF for fun. However, like others said, Trump's tweets should definitely not be comparable to a comedian's. As the President, there's nothing wrong with making jokes, but Trump's tweet was unnecessary and immature. While wasting time on Twitter, he's also setting a terrible example for the country of what a role model should be.
I think maybe Trump should use a personal account and have a separate "President" account, and his personal account can be whatever he wants it to be. As President, a little more decorum should be expected. On a side note however, I did find the video very hilarious (if a youtuber released it, I suppose many more people would have found it lighthearted and funny).
I gotta say, for a 71 year-old man, Trump has a pretty strong appreciation for memes. His social media presence would be pretty hilarious if it wasn't so offensive and terrifying.
I think Max's point is interesting because I think most of us agree that it wasn't a very professional thing to post, but we probably wouldn't be having this conversation if he posted it a just a citizen. Do you think we will see more posts like this from Trump and/or from other politicians? Will posts like this become more accepted in the future?
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