The Squad Vs President Troll

Before proceeding, two terms must be defined. The first term to be defined is the word 'troll.' Its definition depends on its context. In terms of social media, a good definition of a troll can be found in the Meriam-Webster dictionary (click here for the source):

to antagonize (others) online by deliberately posting inflammatory, irrelevant, or offensive comments or other disruptive content

Trolling on social media involves two characteristics: it involves insults and distractions. Criticizing the contents of articles or comments, whether right or wrong, is not trolling when the criticisms have reasonable grounds. But trolling is meant to both attack people who have expressed their views and divert the public's attention from the views those people expressed.

My experience with trolls on both conservative and non-conservative social media sites is that they don't want others to consider what I have to say. They want to distract the audience from the facts and logic of what I write. Such people are trolls, and they are not the only kind of trolls out there. In essence, trolls like the ones I get are trying to censor what I have to say by trying to discredit me. 

We could think of President Trump's response to Meryl Streep's criticisms as an example of a trolling. While Streep was quite specific about Trump's behaviors against a disabled journalist, Trump lashed out by saying that Streep was an 'over-rated actress' and a 'Hillary flunkie.' Trump's tweets about Streep were were meant to antagonize and they were irrelevant. And they were meant to distract the public from issues brought up by Streep's criticisms of his behavior. So while Trump's tweets about Streep took the spotlight, the issue of Trump's behaviors that Streep focused on faded away from the public's attention.

And so also, President Trump's tweets attacking the members of The Squad and telling them to join E.T. and go home is nothing but trolling--note that he didn't literally mention E.T.

Before we continue, we now need to define The Squad. It consists of four Congresswomen of color: Alexandria Ocassio-Cortez (AOC), Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib. AOC is best known for her part in promoting the Green New Deal and her social media releases where she makes quite few critical comments about people and things in government. For my taste, I wish she would tone down her social media presence. But I say that recognizing that she has legitimate points to make.

Ilhan Omar is my favorite person in the squad. Of the 4 members of The Squad, she was the only person to be a naturalized citizen having been born in Somalia. She is one of two Congresswomen who are Muslim. Her family moved to the United States when  she was 10 and she became an American citizen when she was 17 in the year 2000. She speaks on domestic issues including living wage and universal health care and she is a critic of Trump's foreign policies including his policies toward Israel. In most cases, I have found her statements to be well-balanced.

Ayanna Pressley was the first Black women elected to the Boston City Council. She has accused Trump of racism and being a misogynist. She supports his impeachment and Colin Kaepernick's protests. She supports Medicare for all and wants to defund I.C.E. Her highest priority is that of stopping sexual violence.

Rashida Tlaib was the first Muslim woman to serve in Michigan's legislature and the first Palestinian-American woman to be a member of Congress. She advocates for the Trump's impeachment. She is also a critic of the US's relationships with Israel and Saudi Arabia. Along with Pressley, she wants Medicare for all and the elimination of ICE.

It's not that the members of the Squad are above criticism, they are not. It is that valid criticism focuses on political positions and policies advocated by a member of government. Another valid criticism has to do with whether a member of government can be trusted. Trump's tweets about The Squad neither informs us of any significant faults in positions that those in the Squad have nor gives us any reason why those in the squad can't be trusted. 

The chant 'send her back,' heard at his North Carolina rally and referring to Ilhan Omar, which he claimed to disapprove of was part of what he said in his tweets about the four of them. Considering that three members of The Squad were native born citizens and the one who wasn't born here moved to the U.S. when she was 10 and she has since become an American citizen, Trump's tweets telling them to return home were both racist and ignorant.

There are other observations we could make about Trump's tweets directed against The Squad. But to do that would be to cooperate with Trump's trolling. Remember that one of the purposes of trolling is to get the audience to change the subject from the issues in question to either the people who are promoting those issues or the person who is trolling. Thus for the members of the Squad to return the favor of Trump's tweets about them is for them to play his game.

I've found that there are times that one must address the antagonistic statements of a troll, but one should do that minimally. One must always return the attention of the audience to the issues at hand. And the issues being promoted by The Squad are important the perspectives they have regarding those issues are well worth considering. And returning the public's attention to those issues would be the best response that each of the members of The Squad could make to Trump's trolling.