How Trump uses Twitter
Sunday marked one year till Election Day 2020 (btw, happy Election Day to everyone voting in off-year elections today) and the Democratic field is slowly winnowing. In this week’s issue we’ll look at merch the O’Rourke campaign never got around to releasing before he dropped out, some of the best props at this year’s Liberty and Justice Dinner in Des Moines, and how museums across the country are getting ready for fall 2020.
Yours,
P.S. I know this newsletter is about American politics, but I recently learned Canadian Supreme Court Justices havered robes that look like actual Santa Claus costumesand it’s truly the most delightful thing. Just had to let you know.
How Trump uses Twitter
According to a New York Times analysis of the more than 11,000 tweets President Trump has posted since taking office, more than half of them are attacks (shown above in orange compared with his total tweets in white). His favorite targets:
2,405 tweets attacking Democrats
2,065 tweets attacking an investigation
1,308 tweets attacking news organizations
851 tweets attacking minority groups
570 tweets attacking immigrants
453 tweets attacking previous presidential administrations
256 tweets attacking Hillary Clinton
233 tweets attacking ally nations
Trump has also praised dictators in 132 tweets and promoted conspiracy theories in 1,710 tweets. Not a cute look.
Facebook’s rebrand is part of a larger integration
The new FACEBOOK wordmark unveiled Monday will be used to distinguish Facebook the company from Facebook the app. It will be displayed in different colors for each Facebook-owned service — blue for the original Facebook, green for the WhatsApp, and the orange-purple-pink gradient for Instagram. The type is custom, with a slightly curved A and K.
It’s part of a larger move by Facebook to integrate its purchased apps together, despite promises made by founder Mark Zuckerberg at the time of acquisition to give them autonomy. In January, the New York Times reported the apps’ messaging services would eventually be unified.
It surprised me Facebook would want to remind users that they’re using apps owned by a company that has misused their data, enabled foreign interference in a campaign, and wrecked journalism’s business model, but Luke Woods, vice president of design, said the company conducted research into Facebook’s brand and found users value corporate transparency.
Woods told Fast Company the move was to provide users with “clarity that a number of different products they might use that are part of this larger Facebook company.”
A Pew poll last month found just 29% of Americans could correctly name WhatsApp or Instagram as owned by Facebook.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) reacted to the news by tweeting, “Facebook can rebrand all they want but they can’t hide the fact that they are too big and powerful. It’s time to #BreakUpBIGTECH.”
Dems brought out all the props
Credit: @IAStartingLine, @cardstunts, @hoyageorge
The Iowa Democratic Party’s Liberty and Justice Dinner was Friday in Des Moines, and the campaigns brought out all kinds of props. The Warren campaign had an actual oversized inflatable of her dog Bailey with a two-cents collar, Harris had stunt cards that spelled out “Kamala” behind her while speaking, and there were “Boot Edge Edge” signs across three tiers of seating at the Wells Fargo Arena.
A New York Times-Siena College poll of likely Democratic caucus attendees in Iowa released Friday found Warren leads in the state with 22%, followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) at 19%, South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 18%, and former Vice President Biden at 17%.
The O’Rourke campaign was planning on releasing these tees before he dropped out
Credit: @Rob_Flaherty
Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) dropped out of the presidential race Friday, and his digital director Rob Flaherty tweeted out tees he said the campaign was planning to release.
They’re self aware, referencing internet controversies that dogged O’Rourke, like his livestream at the dentist office (“He wasn’t streaming his dentist appointment he was sharing the hygienist’s story”). One has his full name with childhood nickname “Beto” in quotes while another says “I still listen to Foss,” O’Rourke’s old band. The messages are written in Abolition, the campaign’s condensed industrial typeface.
In his speech announcing the end of his campaign, O’Rourke said he plans to be a “proud supporter” of the eventual Democratic nominee. His communications director Rob Friedlander said O’Rourke will not be a candidate for Senate in Texas next year.
Manuel Oliver is getting a theater show
The artist-activist is putting on “GUAC: MY Son, My Hero” on November 22 at New York City’s 92nd Street Y and it will tell the story of Oliver’s son Joaquin, who was killed in the Parkland shooting, according to the event description. Described as a “social justice theater piece,” the performance is set to include elements of stand-up comedy, testimony theater, video, installation art, and live painting.
Female artists are taking over museums next fall
Museums across the country will be promoting exhibitions, performances, and programs featuring female artists from September to November 2020 as part of the Feminist Art Coalition. The group was started by curator Apsara diQuinzio, who told the Art Newspaper the idea came “out of the election of Donald Trump and feeling this urgent need to do something.” The group’s website launched today and you can see the list of nearly 50 participating museums here.
Pink says she turned down the Super Bowl
Credit: Ruvan Afanador for Billboard
In an interview with Billboard, Pink said she was approached to headline this year’s Super Bowl halftime show after performing the national anthem at last year’s game, but turned it down over the NFL’s treatment of Colin Kaepernick.
“I’d probably take a knee and get carried out,” she said.
The interview was conducted before Jennifer Lopez and Shakira were announced to perform at next year’s show. Pink suggested Janet Jackson get the gig and said the NFL “should only give it, because of the controversy, to African-American or Latina women for a while.”
Fun fact I learned from the story: Pink’s Beautiful Trauma World Tour is the second highest-grossing tour by a woman ever, after Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour. My favorite line from the profile was on how she’s lasted as long in the industry as she has.
“I don’t think I would still have a career if I wasn’t good at touring because I’ve never won at any other angle -- I’ve never been the ‘it’ girl. I’ve never been selling perfumes or clothes or dolls,” she said. “I have really made a career out of keeping my head down and beating the pavement.”