From Kathy Griffin to Harvard students’ social media posts, the last few weeks have taught us that anything posted on the internet is eternal and has consequences.
Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) introduced legislation on Monday that would preserve presidential social media posts in the National Archives.
The Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement, or COVFEFE Act, stems from Trumps’s typo tweet on May 30th that was retweeted 100,000 times before it was deleted. The bill would amend the Presidential President Record Act to include social media posts, which is one of Trump’s favorite ways to communicate.
Quigley said that Trump must be held accountable for his 32 million Twitter followers. “In order to maintain public trust in government, elected officials must answer for what they do and say; this includes 140-character tweets,” Quigley said in a statement.
“President Trump’s frequent, unfiltered use of his personal Twitter account as a means of official communication is unprecedented,” Quigley said. “If the President is going to take to social media to make sudden public policy proclamations, we must ensure that these statements are documented and preserved for future reference. Tweets are powerful, and the President must be held accountable for every post.”
This is not the first time Trump has faced consequences for his Twitter statements. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals cited Trump’s tweets in their decision blocking Trump’s travel ban.
That’s right, we need a TRAVEL BAN for certain DANGEROUS countries, not some politically correct term that won’t help us protect our people!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2017
“Indeed, the president recently confirmed his assessment that it is the ‘countries’ that are inherently dangerous, rather than the 180 million individual nationals of those countries who are barred from entry under the president’s ‘travel ban,'” the Court wrote, which used White House press secretary Sean Spicer’s confirmation of the president’s tweets as official statements.
Neal Katyal of Hogan Lovell, the firm challenging the travel ban, also cited Trump’s Twitter in his filing, writing, “Throughout these judicial proceedings, the president has continued to make generalized, often inflammatory, statements about the Muslim faith and its adherents.”
Trump’s Twitter record may best be described by Union Pub’s free round of drinks offered every time Trump tweeted about fired FBI Director James Comey during his hearing last Thursday. To the disappointment of many, Trump refrained from tweeting that day.
Although Trump’s staff and press secretary have disagreed on the official status of Trump’s tweets, the COVFEFE Act attempts to establish a precedent of accountability for Trump’s infamous and erratic tweeting habits that have remained a bipartisan concern since his election. If enacted, the new legislation will ensure Trump’s tweets become a part of his legacy. At least 18 of Trump’s tweets have been deleted since his swearing-in, according to ProPublica.
