Vox Populi? Trump’s Twitter Page as Public Forum

Abstract

This article investigates Twitter replies to tweets concerning the Russia Investigation, published by the United States President, Donald J. Trump. Using a qualitative content analysis, we examine a sample of 200 tweet replies within the timeframe of the first 16 months of Trump’s presidency to explore the arguments made in favor or not in favor of Trump in the comment replies. The results show more anti-Trump than pro-Trump rhetoric in the Twitter replies; the ratio of comments displaying support for Trump or his innocence does not even reach 10%. This study concludes that Trump’s tweets do not inform his Twitter audience’s opinion on this matter, and that Trump’s repetition of catchphrases on the Russia Investigation did not have a measurable impact on his Twitter audience’s responses.

Keywords

• Russia investigation
• president Donald Trump
• political communication
• qualitative content analysis
• Twitter as a public forum