While most people under investigation go with "no comment," President Donald Trump is letting his unfettered opinions about the impeachment inquiry hearings fly.
But not in official statements or during official press conferences.
Trump is letting it all hang out on Twitter.
But almost no one thinks his perpetual tweeting at those giving sworn testimony or @-ing those participating in the hearings is a good idea.
Now even Fox & Friends is begging him to stop.
On Tuesday, as the couch denizens of Fox News' morning opinion show ran down the schedule of events for the hearings, host Brian Kilmeade offered a bit of advice to the person most likely to be watching them.
Kilmeade said:
"I just think overall, the President should just ignore this whole thing. Don't tweet during it, don't get outraged over it. It ticks you off…"
"There's so much for him to do, I just think let these guys like [Representative] Doug Collins [R-GA] and company fight it out and keep it on the straight and narrow for the Republican perspective."
A few hours earlier on another Fox News opinion program, Laura Ingraham offered similar advice.
Ingraham stated:
"Now if I were Trump, I wouldn't even talk about impeachment. I wouldn't tweet about it, I would dignify it."
People were surprised Fox News implored the President not to tweet, but weren't shocked he didn't follow the advice.
The impeachment inquiry continues on Wednesday. The presidential tweets are likely to continue as well.
The book The Twitter Presidency: Donald J. Trump and the Politics of White Rage is available here.
"The Twitter Presidency explores the rhetorical style of President Donald J. Trump, attending to both his general manner of speaking as well as to his preferred modality."
"Trump's manner, the authors argue, reflects an aesthetics of White rage, and it is rooted in authoritarianism, narcissism, and demagoguery. His preferred modality of speaking, namely through Twitter, effectively channels and transmits the affective dimensions of White rage by taking advantage of the platform's defining characteristics, which include simplicity, impulsivity, and incivility."
Travis Whitfill
Travis Whitfill
