If anyone thought Donald Trump would morph into a "presidential" president-elect, it's not happening.
Instead he's doubling down, sending out inflammatory tweets and waging war with the media.
There's some sort of method to his madness, even if it's not clear. Is he trying to distract from the issues, like questions about his business ties and cabinet? Is he trying to stir up his base of supporters that despise the media and believe every word that comes out of his fingers?
Make no mistake _ this is all part of a plan. Trump's no idiot.
His latest tweet on Tuesday morning threatened to jail flag burners and strip them of their citizenship, like he's a third-world dictator.
Trump isn't the first politician to suggest jailing flag burners. But does he actually plan to take away their citizenship birthright because he doesn't like their form of protest? Probably not. He's our nation's first troller-in-chief, writing absurd thoughts in 140 characters of less that will either inflame or excite a large portion of the country. Flag burning is far from a pressing issue in our country.
That's what makes it so challenging for the media. You want to forget his tweets and focus on the real issues. But you can't just ignore the president-elect threatening to strip Americans of their citizenship. Trollers know how to push buttons. And this troll is about to become the leader of the free world.
Trump's Monday night Twitter tirade was even more bizarre. He retweeted supporters making baseless claims about voter fraud. He also retweeted "Filibuster," a 16-year-old who was bashing a CNN reporter for debunking some of Trump's voter fraud claims.
Trump's supporters love it. They believe he's found out a way to bypass the media and talk directly to the country. They feel he can do no wrong.
He's doing a masterful troll job on the country. Millions of people legitimately fear that he's unhinged and about to have access to our nuclear codes.
Once he's actually running the country, he'll be judged on our nation's progress. But for now, every time the media takes his bait, he's winning.
And he knows we can't just ignore what he says.
ABOUT THE WRITER
Andrew Abramson is a columnist for the Sun Sentinel. Readers may email him at aabramson@sunsentinel.com.
