In Focus: Commander-in-Tweet: A Geopolitical Analysis of Joe Biden’s Social Media Activity
| Published date | 01 March 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/20419058241238188 |
| Author | Benjamin D. Hennig |
| Date | 01 March 2024 |
20POLITICAL INSIGHT•MARCH 2024
In Focus
Commander-in-Tweet: A
Geopolitical Analysis of Joe
Biden’s Social Media Activity
What do Joe Biden’s tweets say about his presidency, and his
approach to foreign policy? Benjamin D. Hennig investigates.
Most frequently mentioned keywords by Joe Biden on Twitter/X through his ocial @POTUS account from 2021-2023
Donald Trump's use of Twitter
(also known as X) as a medium
for political communication was
unprecedented. The former US
President’s tweets, numbering over 50,000
during his time in oce, were a direct channel
to the public, bypassing traditional media
which he often labelled as 'Fake News'.
Through Twitter, Trump made signicant
policy announcements, managed personnel,
and inuenced both domestic and foreign
policy, reecting key events and priorities of his
administration.
Trump's term culminated in the 6 January
Capitol riots spurred by his inammatory
tweets and refusal to concede the 2020
election to Joe Biden. Three years after Trump’s
suspension from the social media platform (by
now reinstated but not used by him anymore),
the relevance of X has arguably declined
with its new owner Elon Musk’s rather erratic
takeover and handling of the platform.
Nevertheless, X is still a widely quoted tool
of direct political communication. For many
politicians still on X, the medium is used as
an instrument of crafting a particular political
narrative and image of the politician using it,
which is just as true for US politics as it is in
the UK.
While Trump has moved to his own Truth
Social platform, his prospective rival in the 2024
US election, Joe Biden, is a frequent presence
on X. The incumbent US President uses both
the ocial presidential account (@POTUS) as
well as his personal account (@JoeBiden), the
latter of which is arguably more personal as
well as more polemic and often targeted at
a domestic audience. In both accounts he
and his media team have put a strong focus
on celebrating the successes of his ongoing
presidency, and the overall language diers
considerably from the communication that his
predecessor was known for.
Focusing on the tweets (i.e. messages sent
on X) made by Biden and his team through
the ocial presidential POTUS account
since taking oce in January 2021, oers
a fascinating glimpse into the President’s
political messaging, especially ahead of the
widely expected Biden v Trump re-run in
November. On social media, Biden often
focuses on a narrative of economic recovery,
adopting an overall conciliatory tone while
still trying to actively dierentiate his politics
Political Insight March 2024.indd 20Political Insight March 2024.indd 2019/02/2024 09:3119/02/2024 09:31
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