--- title: Donald Trump's Twitter Feed and the Allure of Distraction description: As Donald Trump's advisors argued over Mitt Romney as Secretary of State, the President-elect dropped his Twitter bomb to change the subject canonical: https://time.com/4585260/donald-trump-twitter-recount/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-29T20:21:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:22.254Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump’s Twitter Feed Sings the Same Old Distracting Song og:description: Conspiracy monger, or cynical manipulator of public outrage? Neither alternative was very presidential og:url: https://time.com/4585260/donald-trump-twitter-recount/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc42e1671a5fc039a/6988affabc6cfc00423df734/donald-trump-twitter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Holds Weekend Meetings In Bedminster, NJ og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump’s Twitter Feed Sings the Same Old Distracting Song twitter:description: Conspiracy monger, or cynical manipulator of public outrage? Neither alternative was very presidential twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc42e1671a5fc039a/6988affabc6cfc00423df734/donald-trump-twitter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump’s Twitter Feed Sings the Same Old Distracting Song > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c832e8a2-ff20-400f-9b78-d2e86970f0f8&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Donald Trump Runs for President: A Look Back [Watch (HLS stream): Donald Trump Runs for President: A Look Back](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dgn8DCbB.m3u8) (7:19)  _Published 2016-10-31. In one of the most shocking U.S. elections in modern political history, Donald Trump has defeated Hillary Clinton._ by [David Von Drehle](https://time.com/author/david-von-drehle/) ## David Von Drehle Nov 29, 2016 8:21 PM UTC  Donald Trump speaks to reporters after his meeting with retired United States Marine Corps general James Mattis at Trump International Golf Club, on Nov. 19, 2016 in Bedminster Township, New Jersey. Donald Trump speaks to reporters after his meeting with retired United States Marine Corps general James Mattis at Trump International Golf Club, on Nov. 19, 2016 in Bedminster Township, New Jersey. Drew Angerer—Getty Images by [David Von Drehle](https://time.com/author/david-von-drehle/) ## David Von Drehle Nov 29, 2016 8:21 PM UTC Like a musician who comes out for one encore too many, the presidential campaign returned to center stage after Thanksgiving with a reprise of its sour song. The too-familiar notes were struck: the overture of cynicism, the air of conspiracy, the cadenza of opportunism—and, inevitably, [Donald Trump’s Twitter feed](http://time.com/4567113/barack-obama-donald-trump-twitter/). The name of the tune was [Recount](http://time.com/4583546/wisconsin-recount-vote-donald-trump-hillary-clinton-jill-stein/). In a last-minute flurry of paperwork and lawsuits, various parties [sought to review ballots in Wisconsin](http://fortune.com/2016/11/26/donald-trump-jill-stein-recount/), Pennsylvania, and Michigan. No one close to the exercise really believed it would overturn [Trump’s unprecedented victory](http://time.com/4564832/paul-ryan-speech-donald-trump-election/) in the [Electoral College](http://time.com/4558510/electoral-college-history-slavery/), but the band played on regardless. It’s not hard to understand why. Pre-election polls showed a tight race but not a Trump victory. In the aftermath of the surprise result, a lot of people tried to understand what happened. Hillary Clinton had come so close to victory, beating Trump by [more than 2 million popular](http://time.com/4578910/hillary-clinton-popular-vote-trump/) votes nationwide while losing the three decisive Great Lakes states by a total of about 100,000 ballots. Narrow as the margins were, political pros inside the Clinton campaign knew immediately that those margins were essentially insurmountable. No campaign had ever closed a gap in the tens of thousands through a recount. But hold on: what if the votes weren’t miscounted, but hacked? What a can of worms this opened. Each state with its own recount laws, and each county, each precinct even, with its individual voter rolls and electronic machines. As the clock ticked loudly toward the Dec. 13 deadline for resolving Electoral College votes, officials in all three states tried to imagine what possible mechanism could settle such an intricate charge? Yet, given all that transpired in 2016—the Trumpian insistence on [“rigged” elections](http://time.com/4433984/donald-trump-general-election-rigged/); the alleged theft by Russians of Clinton insider e-mails—the mood was right for a conspiracy theory. J. Alexander Halderman, a computer security expert at the University of Michigan, argued first to the Clinton campaign, and then in an online essay (after New York Magazine publicized his theory of a hacked election), that prudence demanded a review of the ballots to check for signs of foul play. The evidence for such a vast fraud was somewhere between slim and none, according to Marc Erik Elias, general counsel to the Clinton campaign and a leading authority on election canvassing. What’s more, as Elias tried to explain in his own essay for the Internet, systemic fraud that might exist would likely be discovered without the drama of a formal recount, when randomly selected precincts in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are audited as a matter of course. In a more ordinary year, that might have been the end of it. But Halderman’s theory inspired the anti-Trump resistance to fight another few days. Fourth-place finisher Jill Stein of the Green Party, sensing opportunity in the Clinton campaign’s lack of enthusiasm, offered to push for the recounts, and was rewarded with [more than $6 million](http://time.com/money/4584102/jill-stein-recount-fundraising-election-wisconsin-michigan-pennsylvania/) in online contributions to help pay the costs. Suddenly, a campaign asterisk was transformed into a central player, and Stein’s fundraising database for future undertakings was bulging with new contacts. Through all this, President-elect Trump remained aloof, traveling from Manhattan skyscraper to New Jersey golf resort to Palm Beach playground. His Cabinet gradually took eccentric shape. His approval ratings rose slowly from the sub-basement. And then Elias spoiled his equilibrium by announcing that Clinton would join Stein’s call for recounts, if only “to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides.” Exploding on Twitter in a way that recalled his September campaign meltdown, Trump savaged the “Green party scam” and the “defeated and demoralized Dems” who had joined it. With high umbrage, he recalled, in a long parade of tweets, Clinton’s lecture during a presidential debate on the importance of accepting the election returns. And then he went full Trump. Citing no evidence, he echoed the unsupported assertion on a conspiracy website that Clinton’s popular vote victory was the result of [millions of “illegal” votes](http://time.com/4582868/donald-trump-people-illegally-voted-election/). Perhaps he believed it. Perhaps he also believed in his boast of “winning the Electoral College in a landslide.” (In fact, Trump’s likely margin of 74 votes was the fourth smallest since 1960.) But another explanation might be closer to the truth. With his advisors squabbling openly over the idea of Mitt Romney as Secretary of State, and investigative reporters digging into his tangled business interests, the President-elect dropped his Twitter bomb to change the subject. Conspiracy monger, or cynical manipulator of public outrage? Neither alternative was very presidential. Americans willing to give Trump the benefit of the doubt were disappointed to hear him singing the same old song. ## Transcript I am officially running Aah, yeah [ APPLAUSE ]. for President of the United States [ APPLAUSE ] and we are going to make our country great again. The American Dream is dead, but if I get elected President I will bring it back bigger and better and stronger than ever before and we will make America great again. I was called by a major major reporter whose name I won't use. And he said to me what you've done has never been done Male 1: In the history of United States politics. And more and more people are resonating to what I'm saying. That's why I'm leading in every poll. We will have so much winning if I get elected that you may get bored with winning. I think I have to win. I'm about winning. Male 2: It's been amazing to follow and exciting because you say some shocking Things [ LAUGH ] You've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slabs, and disgusting animals. Your Twitter account. Only Rosie O'Donnell Look at those hands, are they small hands? And he referred to my hands, if they're small something else must be small. I guarantee you there's no problem there, I guarantee it. I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters okay? You gotta see this guy, I don't know what I said. I don't remember. [ APPLAUSE ] Here's a guy throwing punches, nasty as hell, screaming and everything else when we're talking. I mean what can happen, and we're not allowed, you know the guards are very gently with him, he's walking out like big high fives. Smiling, laughing, like to punch him in the face. [ APPLAUSE ] USA! USA! USA! When Mexico sends their people, they're not bringing their best. They're sending drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapist. I will build a great great wall On our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall. The former president of Mexico Vicente Fox, he said today, and I'm quoting him. He said, I'm not going to pay for that quote, F'ing wall. How are you going to make them pay for the wall? I will and the wall just got ten feet taller, believe me. Zero tolerance for criminal aliens, zero, zero. Now a different threat challenges the whole world. Radical Islamic Terrorism. Donald J Trump is calling for a total and complete shut down. Of Muslims entering the United States. Donald Trump, let me ask you, have you even read the United States Constitution? You have sacrificed nothing, and no one [ APPLAUSE ] I think I've made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I've created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs. Built great structures. I've had tremendous success. Those are sacrifices? Sure I think they're sacrifices. [ MUSIC ] As the proud daughter of your nominee I am here to tell you this is the moment and Donald Trump is the person to make America great again. [ LAUGH ] I humbly and gratefully accept. Your nomination for the presidency of the United States. And we will make America great again. God Bless you and good night. I love you. [ Music ] Ladies and gentlemen, the Republican nominee for President, Donald J. Trump. And the Democratic nominee for President Hilary Clinton . >> You're telling the enemy everything you wanted to do . >> No we're not . >> See. you're telling the enemy everything you wanted to do . >> There are different . >> Secretary, is it President Obama's fault? Wrong >> That is absolutely Wrong . >> Prove over and over again. Wrong. I also have a much better temperament than she has, you know? If Hillary knew how she would have done it already, period, end of story. I won the debate, I stayed calm just like I promised, and it is over. Goodnight, [ INAUDIBLE ]. [ LAUGH ] I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful. I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. [ LAUGH ] Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything. Whatever you want. Grab them by the ****. I've said and done things I regret, and the words released today on this more than a decade old video Are one of them. This is nothing more than a distraction from the important issues we're facing today. You bragged that you have sexually assaulted women, do you understand that? No I didn't say that at all. I don't think you understood what was said. This was lock Locker room talk . >> Just breaking a damning report from the New York Times that claims Donald Trump inappropriately touched two women, the first nearly [ INAUDIBLE ] That more women now accuse Donald Trump of improper physical contact . >> The People Magazine writer who said that Donald Trump kissed her and groped her in 2005 while she was interviewing him and his then pregnant wife Melania . >> These vicious claims About me, of inappropriate conduct with women. Are totally, and absolutely false. I didn't know any of these women, I didn't see these women. And I didn't even apologize to my wife, who's sitting right here, cuz I didn't do anything. Thank you. Do you make the same commitment that you will absolutely, Sir, that you will absolutely accept the result of this election? I will look at it at the time. I'm not looking at anything now, I'll look at it at the time. And I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election. If I win. 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