Trump as Cyberbully in Chief? Twitter Attack on Union Boss Draws Fire
Photo
Chuck Jones, president of
United Steelworkers Local 1999, criticized President-elect Donald J.
Trump’s claims of how many jobs he saved in Indianapolis. Mr. Trump
fired back on Twitter, accusing him of doing “a terrible job
representing workers.”Credit
Michelle Pemberton/The Indianapolis Star, via Associated Press
WASHINGTON
— Thirty years as a union boss in Indiana have given Chuck Jones a
thick skin. But even threats to shoot him or burn his house down did not
quite prepare him for becoming the target of a verbal takedown by the
next president of the United States.
In what one Republican strategist described as “cyberbullying,” President-elect Donald J. Trumpderided Mr. Jones on Twitter,
accusing him of doing “a terrible job representing workers” and blaming
him for the decisions by companies that ship American jobs overseas.
The Twitter message from the president-elect at 7:41 Wednesday night, and a second one
urging Mr. Jones to “spend more time working — less time talking,”
continued Mr. Trump’s pattern of digital assaults, most of them aimed at
his political rivals, reporters, Hollywood celebrities or female
accusers. On Tuesday morning, Mr. Trump used Twitter to assail Boeing for escalating costs on the development of a new Air Force One.
But
rarely has Mr. Trump used Twitter to express his ire at people like Mr.
Jones, the president of United Steelworkers Local 1999, who described
himself on Thursday as “just a regular working guy.” With the full power
of the presidency just weeks away, Mr. Trump’s decision to single out
Mr. Jones for ridicule has drawn condemnation from historians and White
House veterans.
“When
you attack a man for living an ordinary life in an ordinary job, it is
bullying,” said Nicolle Wallace, who was communications director for
President George W. Bush and a top strategist to other Republicans. “It
is cyberbullying. This is a strategy to bully somebody who dissents.
That’s what is dark and disturbing.”
Robert
Dallek, a presidential historian, called the verbal attack
unprecedented and added: “It’s beneath the dignity of the office. He
doesn’t seem to understand that.”
Frank
Sesno, a former CNN Washington bureau chief and now the director of the
School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University,
said Mr. Trump’s willingness to weaponize his Twitter feed, especially
against people who are not political rivals, could produce a chilling
effect on people willing to publicly criticize the president.
“Anybody
who goes on air or goes public and calls out the president has to then
live in fear that he is going to seek retribution in the public sphere,”
Mr. Sesno said. “That could discourage people from speaking out.”
Wednesday night’s Twitter message from Mr. Trump came after Mr. Jones, on the CNN program “Erin Burnett OutFront,”
challenged the president-elect’s claims. Mr. Jones challenged Mr.
Trump’s claim to have saved 1,100 jobs in Indiana at Carrier Corporation
from being shipped overseas and said that 350 of those jobs were
already staying in the United States.
As
Mr. Jones spoke, a graphic flashed across CNN’s screens at 7:20 p.m.,
referring to something Mr. Jones said earlier in the week: “Carrier
Union Boss: Trump Lied His A** Off.” Less than 20 minutes after Mr.
Jones’s interview ended, Mr. Trump’s Twitter message appeared.
Mr.
Jones said he had just walked back into his house and hung up his coat
when he got a call from a friend. “Trump’s hammering you on a tweet,”
the friend said, prompting a laugh from Mr. Jones.
In
the control room at CNN, a planned story on immigration was scrapped,
and a booker went scrambling to get Mr. Jones back on the air to
respond.
Mr.
Trump’s message to his 17 million Twitter followers set off threats and
other harassing calls to Mr. Jones. One caller left five one-minute
messages, and two secretaries answering phones at the local’s
headquarters have been similarly swamped.
“It’s
riled the people up,” Mr. Jones said. “A lot of the people who have
called and been not very nice to me, they have been quite clear that
they are Trump supporters and I’m an ungrateful so-and-so.”
Mr.
Jones refused on Thursday to back down from his criticism of Mr. Trump.
And he shrugged off Mr. Trump’s claim that he had not done enough to
help the workers his union represents.
“Hell,
I know what I did for the last 30 years,” Mr. Jones said, noting his
work on behalf of pensions and salaries that average $23 per hour.
But
Mr. Jones also said that he and the president-elect have been on the
same side when it comes to trying to protect the livelihoods of
blue-collar workers. He said he would happily collaborate with Mr. Trump
to try to save the 550 Carrier jobs still scheduled to be moved to
Mexico.
“If
he in fact called today, and said, ‘Let’s get together to save the 500
jobs,’ I’d be glad to do anything I possibly could to work with him in
any fashion,” Mr. Jones said. “I don’t foresee that happening.”
Veterans
of the White House say they do not know what to expect from Mr. Trump,
whose actions since the election have broken with many presidential
norms.
David
Axelrod, who was a senior adviser to President Obama, said he always
advised the current occupant of the Oval Office to be mindful of the
extra power that his words carried once they were amplified by the most
powerful megaphone in the world.
“What
you may think is a light tap is a howitzer,” Mr. Axelrod said. “When
you have the man in the most powerful office, for whom there is no
target too small, that is a chilling prospect. He has the ability to
destroy people in 140 characters.”
Throughout
the campaign, Mr. Trump dashed off Twitter messages in response to what
he saw on television, sometimes calling out specific television
personalities like Megyn Kelly or Joe Scarborough by name.
Mr. Trump has not stopped since he won the election. When he abruptly took to Twitter on Nov. 29 to attack those who burn the American flag, it happened shortly after a “Fox & Friends” segment about a flag-burning incident.
“It’s riled the people up,” Mr. Jones said. “A lot of the people who have called and been not very nice to me, they have been quite clear that they are Trump supporters and I’m an ungrateful so-and-so.”Mr. Jones refused on Thursday to back down from his criticism of Mr. Trump. And he shrugged off Mr. Trump’s claim that he had not done enough to help the workers his union represents.“Hell, I know what I did for the last 30 years,” Mr. Jones said, noting his work on behalf of pensions and salaries that average $23 per hour.But Mr. Jones also said that he and the president-elect have been on the same side when it comes to trying to protect the livelihoods of blue-collar workers. He said he would happily collaborate with Mr. Trump to try to save the 550 Carrier jobs still scheduled to be moved to Mexico.“If he in fact called today, and said, ‘Let’s get together to save the 500 jobs,’ I’d be glad to do anything I possibly could to work with him in any fashion,” Mr. Jones said. “I don’t foresee that happening.”Veterans of the White House say they do not know what to expect from Mr. Trump, whose actions since the election have broken with many presidential norms.David Axelrod, who was a senior adviser to President Obama, said he always advised the current occupant of the Oval Office to be mindful of the extra power that his words carried once they were amplified by the most powerful megaphone in the world.“What you may think is a light tap is a howitzer,” Mr. Axelrod said. “When you have the man in the most powerful office, for whom there is no target too small, that is a chilling prospect. He has the ability to destroy people in 140 characters.”Throughout the campaign, Mr. Trump dashed off Twitter messages in response to what he saw on television, sometimes calling out specific television personalities like Megyn Kelly or Joe Scarborough by name.Mr. Trump has not stopped since he won the election. When he abruptly took to Twitter on Nov. 29 to attack those who burn the American flag, it happened shortly after a “Fox & Friends” segment about a flag-burning incident.
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