Michelle Obama Clapped Back At Donald Trump's Tweets & Her Comments Are All Of Us
Subtle shade is always the best, and our ex-first lady seems to be a pro at it. On Feb. 28, Michelle Obama clapped back at Donald Trump's tweets, saying she prefers to use social media "like a grownup" instead of tweeting irresponsibly and I just want to give her a standing ovation. Her statements are literally everything I have ever said about the way he uses social media.
During a health panel at Klick Health’s MUSE New York event, Obama opened up about the frustrations she has with social media, according to People. When speaking about Twitter, she said, “I still haven’t figured it out because I’m old and I don’t understand most of social media," before adding, “I tweet, but I have a committee. I don’t just tweet off the top of my head, which I don’t encourage people to do — especially kids.”
She continued by saying that people need to get someone else's opinion before posting a message versus posting "the first thing that comes off the top of their head." (*cough*) According to Obama, the key is using social media "like a grownup." She said,
How many kids do you know that the first thing that comes off the top of their head is the first thing they should express? You know? It’s like, ‘Take a minute. Talk to your crew before you put that [out there] and then spell check and check the grammar.’ I think kids do think telling it like it is and talking off the top of your head [is cool]… [but] that’s never been good. We weren’t raised like that. That’s rude. That’s what you call rude. But yes, I use social media. But I use it like a grown-up.
I think I speak for all when I say it's pretty obvious that she was shading Trump.
If so, Obama's comments couldn't come at a better time, because Trump is back at it in terms of lashing out against others on social media. Just days ago on Feb. 22, he called out CNN and NBC, which are both regular victims in his "fake news" campaign, and criticized them for supposedly misconstruing his words on gun control. Trump tweeted that he never said "give teachers guns," but was open to giving "concealed guns to gun adept teachers with military or special training experience," following the mass shooting that occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Feb. 14.
(The tweets could definitely use some of the etiquette and spell check that Obama was referring to, but I digress.)
The Obamas have been vocal about social media trolling in the past.
Obama's recent statements aren't the first time that she's been critical of the way some people use social media. According to People, in November 2017, at the Economics of Equality: Advancing Women and Girls to Change the World Forum in Canada, Obama told the crowd that when it comes to social media, they need to "edit and spell check" and added that it's “never a good thing to say the first thing that comes to your mind.”
Her hubby, Barack, has also chimed in on the way social media is used, echoing comments made by Obama. When asked about trolling, fake news, and other dangers of social media in an interview with BBC Radio in December 2017, the ex-president opened up about ways to fix those issues, according to Us Weekly. He said,
Most of this is happening outside of government. In the United States, in particular, we have a very strong First Amendment. I’m pretty firm about the merit of free speech. The question has to do with how do we harness this technology in a way that allows a multiplicity of voices, allows a diversity of views, but doesn’t lead to a Balkanization of society and allows ways of finding common ground.
I don't think when Trump tweets that he's thinking about "ways of finding common ground," but the "mute" button might equally work for those that aren't fans of his posts. Just a reminder for when it gets to be too much.
