Since taking office, President Donald Trump has had some incredibly frenetic days on Twitter, sending the entire nation off the rails by the force of his schizophrenic, 140-character missives. Despite a promise after elected to make his Twitter feed more “presidential,” it’s the same as ever, a remarkably public crystal ball that displays his unfettered id.
While you could pick any random day from his feed to illustrate his unique combination of bravado, contradictions, and fake news, one particular day on Twitter gives you absolutely everything you need to know: Oct. 22, 2012. Every single one of Trump’s personality traits—his desire for attention, his compulsion toward half-truths, his obsession with himself, his poor grasp of the English language and basic tenets of humanity—is on full display.
It’s an amazing 24 hours, and it kicks off with a fake quote.
“They succeed, because they think they can.” — Virgil
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
Trump’s supersized belief in his own ability helped propel him all the way to the presidency. The only problem with that quote is that in Book V of the Aeneid, the legendary Latin poet Virgil writes, “They can because they think they can.”
Five minutes later, he insults NBC anchor Chuck Todd.
Todd had called him and GE CEO Jack Welch out earlier after the two accused the Obama administration of lying about unemployment numbers to help bolster their reelection case.
Sleepy Eyes @chucktodd owes @jack_welch an apology. Jack is right on unemployment–the new jobless claims make 7.8% an impossibility.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
Eight minutes later, he launches his first direct attack of the day on Obama.
Gas prices are at crazy levels–fire Obama!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
In 2012, gas prices were, in fact, the highest they’d ever been, the national average having shot up a dollar over the past three years. But the president, of course, cannot be fired.
Trump then segues into the world of sports. He also misspells the word “you.”
Derek, get well soon, the @Yankees need youl.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
Four minutes pass.
I will be live tweeting during the debate tonight.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
Trump is talking about livetweeting the third debate of the 2012 presidential election between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.
Obama should stop talking about wind turbines–they are a disaster for a country or community & are very expensive & unreliable.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
The anti-wind turbine movement in Scotland against @AlexSalmond is amazing–keep going Scots, save your country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
This is one of Trump’s weirdly staunchest principles. He tweets fervently about his disdain for wind turbines, lashing out at the inanimates object for causing the death of birds, and for how ugly he thinks they are. In 2010, the Department of Energy said that wind turbines caused fewer bird deaths than other manmade structures, such as buildings. Trump’s current Department of Energy also considers turbines to be an affordable and reliable source of energy.
For a person who has changed his stance on a number of subjects, seemingly on a whim, nothing can get him to approve of wind power.
People are going crazy with my comments on Diet Coke (soda). Let’s face it–this stuff just doesn’t work. It makes you hungry.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
The president reportedly drinks upwards of 8 to 12 Diet Cokes a day, and he recently clocked in just one pound shy of obese at his annual physical.
Stay tuned for my big Obama announcement— probably on Wednesday.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
You can be forgiven for assuming this was about Trump’s fallacious and long-held belief that Obama wasn’t an American citizen, but it was revealed a couple of days later that Trump was offering Obama $5 million for his college transcripts. He did not succeed in this endeavor, but he did tweet a story about his tweet.
Via @politico: “Donald Trump claims Barack Obama bombshell” http://t.co/7UZEL9a0
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
He offered this insight into presidential elections.
New Hampshire is a critical state for both candidates this year. I got to know New Hampshire and love it.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
Then he pivoted to his long-held stance that vaccines cause autism. That the Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccine causes kids to develop autism is a staunchly held theory of some in fringe communities.The CDC says there is no proof of a tie between autism and vaccines, but Trump nonetheless appears to blame the Obama administration for the rate of autism in America. Keep in mind, it’s not even noon at this point.
Lots of autism and vaccine response. Stop these massive doses immediately. Go back to single, spread out shots! What do we have to lose.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
We should march on Washington re:autism–with leadership & common sense the numbers would drop precipitously!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
Autism rates through the roof–why doesn’t the Obama administration do something about doctor-inflicted autism. We lose nothing to try.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
Ten minutes after accusing Obama of endangering millions of children, Trump called a Black person racist.
.@Toure, when you are fired from MSNBC for your bad ratings and racist coverage, stop by and say hello.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
Then Trump accused Obama of wanting to start a war with Iran to get re-elected.
Don’t let Obama play the Iran card in order to start a war in order to get elected–be careful Republicans!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
He then laid out his hopes for that evening’s debate.
I wish tonight’s debate would cover more than foreign policy.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
This was the third debate between Obama and Romney. The first two covered the economy and domestic policy.
My son Don and his wife Vanessa just had a beautiful baby boy named Spencer Frederick –very thrilling.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
It’s certainly exciting when your kids have children, but those congrats lose their efficacy when, 23 minutes later, you dive back into a racially motivated Twitter fight.
.@Toure I felt very sorry for you during your meltdown on @PiersMorgan. He drove you insane but, of course, Piers is a lot smarter than you
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
He circled back to his argument from earlier about wind turbines in Scotland—which he didn’t like because they could be seen from his golf course there—and lashed out at the First Minister of Scotland over a terrorist attack in 1988.
I refused to comply with Scotland’s First Minister @AlexSalmond‘s ‘compassionate’ treatment of terrorist Megrahi (Pan Am #103–270 dead)…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
…now @AlexSalmond doesn’t like me–who cares!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was released three years earlier with terminal cancer, and while Scottish law does not require Trump to comply with their decision to release terrorists on humane grounds, Trump was asked to sign a letter supporting the decision and refused. Trump believes Salmond then moved to put wind farms near Trump’s golf course as retribution.
Nine minutes later, apropos of literally nothing:
The brass in #TRUMP Tower’s atrium is polished twice a month like clockwork. I keep the atrium impeccable. Key to its success!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
He called a person “Dopey.”
@LarryLivermore @tufnrs73 Dopey, I never went bankrupt.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
Trump pivoted back to Obama.
Obama planted that @nytimes story on Iran so it will be discussed in tonight’s debate. He wants Libya and China off the table.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
“This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.” Obama to @MedvedevRussiaE discussing our nuclear arsenal.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
Obama is an easy target on foreign policy.@MittRomney has many openings to attack, especially when Obama starts bragging about Bin Laden.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
After three foreign policy adjacent tweets, the billionaire businessman was back to what he does best: discussing celebrity gossip.
Everyone knows I am right that Robert Pattinson should dump Kristen Stewart. In a couple of years, he will thank me. Be smart, Robert.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
Trump, over the previous few weeks, had, for some reason, been asserting himself into the story about Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and her rumored affair. To this day, no one knows why. But for a man who has publicly cheated on his significant others, he took a very vitriolic stance toward a woman who cheated, saying she couldn’t be trusted.
Everybody is asking about my announcement this Wednesday concerning Barack Obama—just wait and see!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
This is a perfect example of how the president has an uncanny ability to hype himself and craft a story. He sent out a purposely ambiguous tweet, let the media cover it, and then declared it a success.
I look forward to @MittRomney hitting Obama hard tonight for lying about Benghazi. CIA told Obama it was a terrorist attack after 24 hrs.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
You thought Benghazi wouldn’t come up today?
And, of course, he linked to Breitbart.
Former Obama White House economic adviser @Austan_Goolsbee gave his old boss a ‘C’ on the economy http://t.co/6rzfGjMM Pretty generous!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2012
As for saying he would livetweet the debate, he sent just two tweets during the event.
.@MittRomney looks much calmer, and Obama should stop nodding his head backwards and forward.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 23, 2012
Stop congratulating Obama for killing Bin Laden. The Navy Seals killed Bin Laden. #debate
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 23, 2012
In one day, Trump hit out against renewable energy, vaccines, soda, celebrity couples, a Black writer, and the president—a perfectly normal day for this perfectly “stable” human.
Just in case you think this day was an aberration, he woke up next day and tweeted this.
I always said that @lancearmstrong had to keep fighting the charges. By stopping, he gave his enemies an opening.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 23, 2012
He never stops.
