Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

WATCH: Keith Olbermann Dissects How Trump Controls America via Tweets

WATCH: Keith Olbermann Dissects How Trump Controls America via Tweets


Keith Olbermann examined how Donald Trump manages to manipulate America through Twitter in a recent clip that was featured on GQ's "The Resistance."

The political commentator takes us through the nature in which past presidents communicated with the country and compared them with Donald Trump's preferred method of reaching out to America today.

"Those in his cult view Trump as the Franklin Delano Roosevelt of Twitter," Olbermann said. "No, I'm not kidding."

"There are no other comparisons intended between our 32nd president and this comic book excuse of a 45th. But something has to be acknowledeged about the exploitation of new media they both recognize and utilize - one for good, and one for evil, because we might learn something about how to stop this evil one."

Before FDR, there were no recorded statistics on how many people have heard presidents speak live. Even broadcast speeches fell on limited ears in comparison to today.

"On March 12, 1933, Roosevelt gave the first of his fireside chats, eight days after his fist inauguration, it is unlikely that more than a tiny percentage of Americans had ever heard a president or a president-elect speak, and speak intimately, live not to a distant crowd, or to a convention, or with the former rhetoric of inauguration. But speak to them in their own homes, as if he were in the other room."

As an example of FDR's powerful influence, Olbermann talks about how 60 million Americans were influenced by Roosevelt during the bank crisis in 1933, a period when banks were closed and depositors lined up out of panic to make withdrawals. But when they heard FDR talk about how he planned to solve the crisis, suddenly, the banks reopened and people got back in line to make deposits into their accounts.

"Roosevelt would make 27 more fireside chats, they remain a landmark in presidentail communication. It is less widely known that FDR had tried this process out as early as 1929 while he was the governor of New York, often asking listeners directly for their help in passing liberal legislation through a conservative state legislature."

FDR was intentionally avoiding the mainstream media. His press secretary Stephen Early commented about live radio communication.

"It cannot misrepresent nor misquote. It is far reaching and simultaneous in releasing messages given it for transmission to the nation, or for international cosumption."

Olbermann gives a deadpan to the camera, asking us, "Sound like anybody we know?"

Olbermann then referred to Trump's own assessment of the tweeting process he willingly divulged during an interview with Fox Business Network's Maria Bartiromo.

"Yes, he's an idiot. And his quotes read like someone who was hit on the head by a low-flying duck," said the ex-MSNBC journalist.

Like FDR, Donald Trump figured out how to circumvent the press by reporting the things only he wanted to directly touch on. And just like in a broadcast, people in their own homes could listen to the president speak, as if directly to them. So there's no better form of intimacy than reading Trump's remarks on Twitter, which is typically a one on one interaction.

Trump is exploiting the use of social media to bolster his supporters to maximum effect.

"If you loathe Trump it is easy to dismiss what he does there as manipulative, morally barren, corrupt, and dishonest. But to people in the cult, that's him talkig to them. Just them. Individually, one at a time."

Olbermann brought up how he cringed whenever Barack Obama addressed the crowd, empasizing that "people don't want to hear a speech. They want to hear a convesation." In contrast, Trump is using his "con-man" background by taking advantage of people on an individual basis to manipulate them. Twitter has become the conduit to infuence his cult.

"He has perfected the fireside tweet," Olbermann said, and drew the parallel between the two presidents. "He is the FDR of Twitter."

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

H/T - huffingtonpost, youtube

More from People

Brad Pitt
Karwai Tang/WireImage/Getty Images

Brad Pitt Opens Up About Going To Alcoholics Anonymous Amid 'Difficult' Split From Angelina Jolie

In 2016, actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt officially separated after 12 years together, with two of those years spent as husband and wife.

The split came after an inflight incident that forced the private plane Pitt, Jolie, and their children were traveling on to make an unscheduled landing and prompted an FBI investigation. Pitt later shared that he was struggling with an alcohol addiction.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sir Rod Stewart; Donald Trump
Ethan Miller/Getty Images; Carlos Barria - Pool/Getty Images

Rod Stewart Explains Why He's No Longer Friends With Trump In Blistering Interview

Singer Sir Rod Stewart and MAGA Republican President Donald Trump might seem like an odd pairing, but the two were once good friends, according to the Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.

And they actually have several things in common.

Keep ReadingShow less
Thomas Massie; Donald Trump
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Suzanne Plunkett/Pool/Getty Images

GOP Rep. Offers Snarky Clapback After Trump Kicks Him Out Of MAGA For Criticizing Iran Attack

Kentucky Republican Representative Massie offered a snarky response after President Donald Trump said "MAGA doesn't want him" following Massie's criticism of Trump's unilateral decision to bomb Iran and the spending package presented in the "Big Beautiful Bill."

Massie spoke out following Trump's decision to authorize a series of intense U.S. air and submarine strikes targeting three Iranian nuclear facilities, amid ongoing uncertainty about the status of Tehran’s nuclear program. The threat of a wider conflict in the Middle East is on everyone's minds as tensions between Iran and Israel—now openly aided by the U.S.—intensify.

Keep ReadingShow less
Las Vegas sign
welcome to fabulous las vegas nevada signage

People Reveal The Times 'What Happens In Vegas' Did Not Stay In Vegas

"What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas"...

The age-old slogan encourages visitors to put their fears and inhibitions to the side while indulging in all that "Sin City" has to offer.

Keep ReadingShow less
Marjorie Taylor Greene; Donald Trump
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

MTG Goes Off On Trump Over Iran Attack—And Warns Of What Could Happen Next

Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized President Donald Trump in a lengthy post on X following his unilateral decision to bomb Iran over the weekend.

Greene is one of the most devout MAGA adherents in Congress, so her policy split is rare but shows just how deeply Trump has angered his own base since he authorized a series of intense U.S. air and submarine strikes targeting three Iranian nuclear facilities, amid ongoing uncertainty about the status of Tehran’s nuclear program

Keep ReadingShow less