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Is this going to be a Twitter presidency or a TV one?
- Donald Trump will be president again and Elon Musk, one of his biggest backers, owns Twitter. So does this mean Twitter could be more important in Trump 2.0 era? Probably, but remember that Trump used Twitter as an output device, not an input device.
- It was interesting to see the campaign for the next Senate majority leader play out on Twitter over the weekend, with conservative leaders, including Tucker Carlson and Charlie Kirk, weighing in on the platform, as well as Musk and Trump.
- Twitter has already taken a rightward turn under Musk's ownership. And as long as Musk is aligned with Trump, Twitter users will see a lot of content favoring Trump. But does Donald Trump know or care about what's happening on Twitter?
- Trump famously loved Twitter during his first term in office. But he was using it like a remote control, to program the media's coverage and reality itself. Trump 1.0 was a president who understood that digital media was important. But he was first and foremost a president who came of age in the 1970s and 1980s, and his media diet reflected that: print newspapers and magazines, which he would scribble notes on using a sharpie, and above all else, TV.
- The TV landscape has continued to bleed money and audience, while mediums like podcasts, YouTube, and TikTok are ascendant, and Trump and his campaign spent a significant amount of time and effort on these platforms.
- Trump is approaching 80 and played songs from 1978 at his rallies. It's possible that he has changed his media diet and now frequents online platforms more than before, but his habit of calling around to friends and associates for opinions remains unchanged.
- It's important to note that what's happening on Twitter or anywhere online can still influence how those who influence Trump think. But even they pay attention to TV, at least TV clips on the internet.
- Musk spent part of his Sunday using Twitter to criticize 'Saturday Night Live,' just like Trump used to do. While it's too early to predict exactly how Trump's second term will play out, it's unlikely that Donald Trump, TV guy, transforms into Donald Trump, Twitter guy.
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