Analysis: In Trump's Twitter Feed, A Tale Of Sound And Fury
As Franklin Delano Roosevelt was to radio with his reassuring "fireside chats" during the Great Depression, as John F. Kennedy was to television with addresses to the nation in moments of crisis, so too is Donald Trump a master of his mass medium of choice.
Trump proves his mastery of it daily. Sometimes hourly.
"There's really no way to understand the administration except through the president's Twitter account," says Jameel Jaffer, director of the Knight First Amendment Center at Columbia University Law School.
The entertainment value would seemingly dominate.
Trump's tweets delight those supporters who say they find him honest, funny and refreshing. By the same token, his tweets distract and dismay his detractors, alienate many of his allies and misdirect much of the media.
Yet as a substantive matter, these staccato statements cannot be ignored. They serve up invaluable real-time insight into the workings of the president's mind, a rich resource for
