Is Twitter dying? Chaos at the social-media platform has spurred a flurry of takes about what its end could mean and what might replace it. If we’re watching the platform die, so far the process has been slow. But if Twitter does fade away, that will be the end of a tool that has transformed Washington and politics.
Since the site’s beginning in 2006, it has been a place for reporters to scoop competitors and for newsmakers to grab the mic themselves. It has made and broken political careers, helped lead to the downfall of governments, and been used to announce government policy and stoke international tensions. Here are some of the tweets — a far from comprehensive sampling — that defined politics Twitter, from the beginning to now.
Some tweets and accounts have been deleted and have been recreated here for illustrative purposes.
Not long after Twitter’s launch, big shots and small fries in politics signed up — and, naturally, explained their presence via tweet, no matter how banal.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) was one of the very first politicians to make his debut, in 2007.
Attending events in Iowa
loading Mom’s new ipod
I am working in my office on Capitol Hill today.
Donald Trump tweeted for the first time on May 4, 2009.
Be sure to tune in and watch Donald Trump on Late Night with David Letterman as he presents the Top Ten List tonight!
The first official POTUS tweet was sent out many years after others’ Twitter firsts, in May 2015.
Hello, Twitter! It’s Barack. Really! Six years in, they’re finally giving me my own account.
During the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, demonstrators used Twitter to coordinate protests and spread news about the ongoing uprisings that ultimately toppled President Hosni Mubarak. Other protest movements followed. Twitter played a key role in spreading news about Ferguson, Mo., demonstrations in 2014. Beginning in 2017, the #MeToo hashtag spread across the platform as people shared their stories and allegations about sexual harassment and assault.
Everything ██is█████ ████ ████fine ███ █ ████ love. ████ █████ the ███ Egypt ███ ████ government ██ #jan25 #Egypt #censorship
Uninstalling dictator … 99% complete ███████████████████████████░ #egypt #jan25 #tahrir #mubarak
This Putin’s puppet is not our President! Sanction him and his “Family” RT @ukie1958: #euromaidan #DigitalMaidan pic.twitter.com/PcgAwmyQsc
In 2017, NBA player Kobe Bryant used Twitter to react to the fact that police officer Darren Wilson was not indicted for fatally shooting Michael Brown, 18, in Ferguson. (Wilson resigned soon after.)
The system enables young black men to be killed behind the mask of law #Ferguson #tippingpoint #change
Mitt Romney became the first known Republican senator to join protests after the killing of George Floyd. He shared photos of himself participating in the demonstrations on Twitter.
Black Lives Matter. pic.twitter.com/JpXUFlxH2J
Activist Tarana Burke coined the phrase “me too” in 2006, but it went viral after actress Alyssa Milano tweeted it in 2017.
If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet. pic.twitter.com/k2oeCiUf9n
Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) joined the many women online sharing their stories and allegations of assault and harassment and said that she had been assaulted as a congressional aide.
I’m sharing my #MeToo moment in the hope that my colleagues, & current/former staff who feel safe to do so, will join me. #MeTooCongress pic.twitter.com/dsGFhJ5joo
On Twitter, a careless typo, a mis-sent tweet or a half-baked talking point is enough to trigger a weekslong PR nightmare — or worse.
After then-Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) tweeted an NSFW photo of himself in his underwear (which he promptly deleted), he blamed the post on a hacker.
Touche Prof Moriarity. More Weiner Jokes for all my guests! #Hacked!
Days after that, he admitted that he sent the tweet and had engaged in inappropriate sexual relationships — and ultimately resigned from Congress.
There were many less serious moments. In 2010, former Republican Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was ridiculed for her made-up word.
Grassley became known for his ambiguous tweets.
Windsor Heights Dairy Queen is good place for u kno what
Another fan favorite:
Fred and I hit a deer on hiway 136 south of Dyersville. After I pulled fender rubbing on tire we continued to farm. Assume deer dead
And then there was Trump’s legendary typo.
Who can figure out the true meaning of “covfefe” ??? Enjoy!
Others around him kept up the act that “covfefe” had a secret meaning. “The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in an off-camera briefing.
There was also that time Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao’s account seemed to wholeheartedly support impeaching her own boss.
It was later explained that one of the Department of Transportation employees with access to the secretary’s account wrote the tweet.
Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) account once liked an explicit video clip featuring, according to one article, “a sectional sofa, the pornographic actress Cory Chase, her fictitious nude stepdaughter, and a very energetic young man.” The screenshots that reporters grabbed of the like were too graphic to embed here.
Cruz later said a staffer liked the video by mistake.
When journalist Leslie Cockburn ran as a Democrat to represent a district in Virginia in the House of Representatives, she revealed some interesting oppo on Twitter against her opponent, Denver Riggleman, who eventually won.
My opponent Denver Riggleman, running mate of Corey Stewart, was caught on camera campaigning with a white supremacist. Now he has been exposed as a devotee of Bigfoot erotica. This is not what we need on Capitol Hill. pic.twitter.com/0eBvxFd6sG
Riggleman said he was writing a book about Bigfoot searchers but said it did not include erotic content. He said any peculiar images of Bigfoot on his social media accounts, like the one Cockburn found, were a result of a longstanding joke among himself and his friends.
And then there was the time that Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) tweeted out a large picture of his own face without any context or explanation.
The long, numbered “tweetstorm™” spread to political Twitter by late 2016 after Trump’s upset victory. The Mueller investigation in 2017 in particular prompted a flood of megathreads by new Twitter personalities — many of which were rife with inaccuracies or outright conspiracy theories.
On Dec. 11, 2016, liberal author Eric Garland wrote a 127-tweet saga aimed at creating an ambitious narrative weaving together the KGB, WikiLeaks, the Iraq War and American conservative media. In Garland’s perspective, Trump’s victory was less a story of white working class rebellion or persisting racism but a direct result of Russian “covert shit.” “It’s time for some game theory” became a much-mocked opener on the platform.
<THREAD> I’m now hearing this meme that says Obama, Clinton, et al. are doing nothing, just gave up.
Guys. It’s time for some game theory.
Former criminal defense attorney Seth Abramson delivered Twitter threads layered with recent media reports, his analysis and projections.
(THREAD) It’s now almost certain Papadopoulos *wore a wire* during the last 90+ days. Here are the implications. Hope you’ll read and share. pic.twitter.com/8lMlbTVw8Q
The liberal Twitter thread writer often turned out to be mistaken. In fact, George Papadopoulos was not wearing a wire.
Former Conservative member of the British Parliament Louise Mensch tagged a parody account of Steve Bannon in reporting this falsehood.
This was not Mensch’s first uncorroborated tweet; Mensch had said she “absolutely” believes Putin killed Andrew Breitbart to have Bannon rise through the ranks at the eponymousfar-right media outlet.
The keenest observers on political Twitter have distilled various politicians’ tweeting styles into fake accounts.
A foul-mouthed, fake Rahm Emanuel weighed in on politics.
If you have a giant fucking pile of money and a bunch of dumb fucks running against you, DREAMS DO COME TRUE.
@GOPTeens speculates on what would happen if the party were to try to get its message out to younger voters on the platform.
#Teens: Do you #agree that our country is #bae? — Best #America Ever !!!
A Trump parody account, PresidentialTrump, translated his original tweets into ones sounding just a bit more, um, presidential.
We know polls can be inaccurate based on election, but I clearly have work 2 do 2 win some over. Just know I’ll work tirelessly to unite us. https://t.co/jJi1JjF7rq
Before the parody account of former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) got suspended, it was known for mimicking the sentimental tone of O’Rourke’s blog posts.
During his four-year presidency, Trump unilaterally announced new administration policies as well as promotions and firings of his Cabinet members on Twitter.
After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow……
After Trump sent this tweet out, there was a nine-minute gap until the next one, triggering fear that his administration might have decided to take military action against North Korea.
….Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming…..
….victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you
But then he announced that the U.S. military was banning transgender people from serving, reversing a year-old decision from the Obama administration that repealed such a ban.
Trump’s trade war with China was fought partly on Twitter. Responding to Chinese retaliatory tariffs that disproportionately hurt American soybean producers, Trump announced additional tariffs on the platform, bringing the tensions between the superpowers to a historic high.
…Additionally, the remaining 300 BILLION DOLLARS of goods and products from China, that was being taxed from September 1st at 10%, will now be taxed at 15%. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
In March 2020, Trump promoted hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as breakthrough treatment for coronavirus infection, leading to a nationwide shortage of the drugs, which are crucial to treating lupus and sexually transmitted infections. In July 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration cautioned against the unauthorized use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, which it warned could cause “serious heart rhythm problems,” including “blood and lymph system disorders, kidney injuries, and liver problems and failure.”
….be put in use IMMEDIATELY. PEOPLE ARE DYING, MOVE FAST, and GOD BLESS EVERYONE! @US_FDA @SteveFDA @CDCgov @DHSgov
The unending feud within Trump’s White House during its first few months culminated with the announcement that he was replacing his chief of staff, Reince Priebus. Priebus had already expressed his intent to resign a day prior — the same day that The New Yorker quoted the new White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, saying “Reince is a f–king paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac.” Rather than giving Priebus his desired week to settle things, Trump announced the decision the very next day, on Twitter.
I am pleased to inform you that I have just named General/Secretary John F Kelly as White House Chief of Staff. He is a Great American….
…and a Great Leader. John has also done a spectacular job at Homeland Security. He has been a true star of my Administration
Marking an end to a tumultuous relationship with his secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, Trump fired him in a tweet.
Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, will become our new Secretary of State. He will do a fantastic job! Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service! Gina Haspel will become the new Director of the CIA, and the first woman so chosen. Congratulations to all!
Three hours after posting the tweet, Trump called Tillerson to inform him of the decision.
Those on politics Twitter turned old images and famous tweets into memes that could be reused over and over.
A 2010 Minnesota billboard ad with a photo of former president George W. Bush and the words “Miss Me Yet?” took seven years to come back — on Twitter — as a fan favorite among both Never-Trumpers and President Barack Obama enthusiasts.
A throwback to this #missmeyet pic.twitter.com/wlzQFbOAgX
An image of a cartoon character named Pepe the Frog became the mascot of white nationalists on Twitter in the run-up to the 2016 election. In 2015, Trump retweeted a cartoon depicting himself as Pepe the Frog.
A now-banned, far-right conspiracy theorist and convicted felon, Jacob Wohl, started a series of tweets to suggest liberals secretly loved Trump. Tweeters reused the formula, switching out the discussion of Trump’s approval for subjects very few people were likely talking about in coffee shops.
A video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) tearing apart Trump’s 2020 State of the Union address briefly overtook the platform as a versatile meme for every context imaginable.
Me ripping up the study guide after failing the test: pic.twitter.com/HVPXObzpGG
When congressional Democrats knelt for a moment of silence honoring George Floyd in June 2020, they were criticized for appropriating traditional Kente cloths. On Twitter, the photo was widely shared with mocking comments.
It’s starting to feel like Twitter is genuinely asking me this question. pic.twitter.com/RswUeUHcbp
The British rock band Muse was among many users who superimposed a cropped photo of Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) wearing thick mittens during Biden’s inauguration onto incongruent settings.
Vermont mittens & coat in the desert = berning up 🔥#BernieSanders #BernieSandersMittens #Berniememes pic.twitter.com/mUKgTVhUKS
Trump’s tweeting habits ushered in an era of unfiltered political attacks on the platform, including unprompted personal attacks between members of Congress and clapbacks at the president and others.
Obama just endorsed Crooked Hillary. He wants four more years of Obama—but nobody else does!
Trump opened fire on June 10, 2016, at his opponent after the news of Obama’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton, to which she replied:
Delete your account. https://t.co/Oa92sncRQY
On Twitter, this three-word takedown has had a long history.
U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) responded to Trump’s tweet that progressive representatives should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”
Mr. President,
As Members of Congress, the only country we swear an oath to is the United States.
Which is why we are fighting to protect it from the worst, most corrupt and inept president we have ever seen. https://t.co/FBygHa2QTt
Tough talk coming from someone who backed down to the woke mob and settled out of court with a Twitter troll.
Now your money is being used to take guns away from law abiding Americans. https://t.co/ygybugN9ag
This is what 🦇 💩 🤡 looks like. https://t.co/nIbqjiJaFH
Musk only recently finalized his acquisition of Twitter, but for months he had been teasing such a move on the platform. Before his purchase, Musk had become a poster boy for aggrieved conservatives who saw Twitter’s content moderation policies as a veiled attempt at censoring the right.
Starlink has been told by some governments (not Ukraine) to block Russian news sources. We will not do so unless at gunpoint.
Sorry to be a free speech absolutist.
The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully.
By April 2022, Musk had bought enough shares in the company to become the largest shareholder and received an offer to join Twitter’s board of directors. He initially accepted the offer but later turned it down and proposed buying the company for $44 billion. Musk then tried to rescind the deal in July, citing the website’s unwillingness to suppress spam bot accounts.
The extreme antibody reaction from those who fear free speech says it all
Even though I think a less divisive candidate would be better in 2024, I still think Trump should be restored to Twitter
In May, then Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal wrote a thread explaining why detecting spam bot accounts is an incredibly challenging task. Musk replied:
💩
In October, Musk finalized his acquisition of Twitter. When he rolled out his new policies, he took aim at journalists and politicians on the platform.
Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit.
Power to the people! Blue for $8/month.
Musk responded to Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who had demanded an explanation for Twitter’s impersonation crisis triggered by its new verification policy.
Perhaps it is because your real account sounds like a parody?
The senator fired back.
One of your companies is under an FTC consent decree. Auto safety watchdog NHTSA is investigating another for killing people. And you’re spending your time picking fights online. Fix your companies. Or Congress will. https://t.co/lE178gPRoM
In late November, Musk made good on his promise, and restored Trump’s account.
Trump hasn’t tweeted again yet.