ABSTRACT
As the United States’ July 4 Independence Day holiday approached in 2017, President Donald Trump took to Twitter in the morning, as he had come to do so many times as a celebrity, candidate, and, now, leader of the world’s strongest superpower. His Twitter style was not new. He had long been using the social channel to trash his opponents and thrash his perceived enemies. One such perceived foe was the news media. Trump had been on the attack for quite some time but had stepped up his pressure in the preceding week, going after CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, as well as crudely insulting two anchors from an MSNBC morning talk show. Joe Scarborough, a Republican at the time, and Mika Brzezinski had used their MSNBC Morning Joe platform to criticize Trump after what appeared to be a friendly and collegial rapport early in the campaign. The president responded with personal attacks, aimed particularly at Brzezinski, as June came to a close.
