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Sirena Bergman
Sep 06, 2020
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If you thought Donald Trump couldn't sink any lower, think again.
Earlier today he posted a furious tweet targetted at Laurene Powell Jobs, who was married to the late Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple who died in 2011.
The source of his ire was the fact that Powell Jobs's philanthropic organisation Emerson Collective owns The Atlantic magazine, which reported explosive claims that the president referred to US Army service members and prisoners of war as "losers" and "suckers".
The administration denied these claims, and Trump even went so far as to call for a Fox News journalist Jennifer Griffin to be fired after she appeared to corroborate the story.
It's worth noting that the president does have a history of making disparaging remarks about service members, including most famously John McCain, the late senator and prisoner of war, who Trump referred to as a "loser" during a campaign event in 2015.
While this is bad enough, it was his tweet towards Powell Jobs which has really infuriated people, and understandably so.
Many people suggested that the urging of his 85.7 million followers to "call her, write her, let her know how you feel!!!" is tantamount to inciting harassment against a private citizen.
.@SenatorBurr @SenThomTillis @SenateGOP @HouseGOP This is the sitting president of the United States asking people… https://t.co/AWSxppU4BD— peggye kilcarr (@peggye kilcarr) 1599404067
I can’t believe a President of the United States, @realDonaldTrump would direct his supporters to harass a private… https://t.co/6vL2VIucEG— Laurie Bouchard (@Laurie Bouchard) 1599402536
And encouraged people to report it to Twitter for this reason.
Unclear how this doesn’t break @twitter’s rules against targeted harassment. According to @jack, in his interview… https://t.co/T3DaM40Q28— Sleeping Giants (@Sleeping Giants) 1599406090
I reported this tweet for targeted harassment. https://t.co/OC35ijFbQf— Kimberley Johnson (@Kimberley Johnson) 1599401364
Please report this tweet as targeted harassment. He's encouraging his base to harass Steve Jobs' widow. This is low… https://t.co/iB0jrQm8lF— Shane 🏴☠️ #FBR 🏳️🌈 (@Shane 🏴☠️ #FBR 🏳️🌈) 1599406724
Twitter states that:
"We prohibit behaviour that encourages others to harass or target specific individuals or groups with abusive behaviour. This includes, but is not limited to; calls to target people with abuse or harassment online and behaviour that urges offline action such as physical harassment."
It is not hard to imagine the president's tweet could lead to a pile-on against Powell Jobs – who has done absolutely nothing to encourage it.
Lots of people also called out the sexist language of referring to Powell Jobs as "his wife" and implying that a woman's decision-making should be based on whether or not it makes a man "happy".
Donald Trump hates women. https://t.co/2gpxtX7exn https://t.co/kvIcbhN83r— Shannon Watts (@Shannon Watts) 1599404314
Put that woman in her place, @realDonaldTrump. Mansplain what her dead husband would and wouldn’t want her to do -… https://t.co/mnUgzzcxpb— Jeff Timmer (@Jeff Timmer) 1599399683
Reminder: Women weren't legally allowed to have their own credit cards in America until 1974. This pig of a Preside… https://t.co/ouw1LN34e2— Harry (@Harry) 1599407658
Silly women shouldn't be allowed to spend their money in just any old way they want, amiright?! https://t.co/8sfhkhSSjR— Stonekettle (@Stonekettle) 1599407007
Some people made the point that what the president is advocating for sounds a lot like the "cancel culture" he supposedly abhors.
Tsk-tsk. Isn't this "cancel culture"? https://t.co/dptM4jayU1— A.J. Delgado (@A.J. Delgado) 1599399182
This must be that cancel culture I’ve been hearing so much about https://t.co/QXFiG0jo2m— Adam Serwer 🍝 (@Adam Serwer 🍝) 1599401645
Powell Jobs is a Democrat. The very tweet Trump was quoted highlighted that she donated $500,000 too Biden's campaign. She also supported Hillary Clinton in 2016.
It's not hard to see why Trump would want her cancelled...