I got drunk last weekend and read all 2,735 tweets Donald Trump has written since the election, in the hopes that the feed, collected and searchable on trumptwitterarchive.com, might be a good way to get a sense of the horrors we've endured.
It was like reliving all of the unbelievable moments of this last year in fast motion. But it's important not to forget that we used to not have to deal with the dread of waking up each morning to realize that Donald Trump is president and scramble madly for Twitter to make sure we're not at war.
So here are 10 of Trump's tweets, capturing something about the authoritarian nature of this presidency or the insanity of our social media moment. I left off some obvious favorites (covfefe!) and tended to favor some earlier ones that prefigured later themes.
1. @realDonaldDrumpf
Nov 10, 2016 09:19:44 PM
"Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair."
Only Trump's fourth post-election tweet, but it captures the spirit of his feed. Validate Trump + attack enemies + attack media = complain about affront to Trump.
2. @realDonaldDrumpf
Apr 23, 2017 10:44:59 AM
"Eventually, but at a later date so we can get started early, Mexico will be paying, in some form, for the badly needed border wall."
Walking back an impossible promise while making it look like you're delivering. This is exactly how Trump ran (runs?) his businesses.
3. @realDonaldDrumpf
Feb 2, 2017 06:13:13 AM
If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS?
Here he threatens the funds of a major university in order to support Milo Yiannopoulos, the right-wing troll who had white supremacists line-edit his ghostwritten Breitbart stories, when his speech at Berkeley was being protested. Milo worked for Steve Bannon, who worked for Trump.
4. @realDonaldDrumpf
Feb 17, 2017 04:32:29 PM
The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @CNN, @NBCNews and many more) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American people. SICK!
This is at the top of the list of authoritarian tweets. It's got it all.
5. @realDonaldDrumpf
Apr 11, 2017 07:03:43 AM
"North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A."
Foreign policy by tweet. This led to all of the "little Rocketman" stuff that almost started a nuclear war and ruined a perfectly good Elton John song.
6. @realDonaldDrumpf
June 16, 2017 08:07:55 AM:I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt
This reminds me of a line from an Oedipus play. Read it again with that in mind. Tragic.
7. @realDonaldDrumpf
Sep 30, 2017 06:26:16 AM:...Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They......
Sep 30, 2017 06:29:47 AM: want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job.
OK, this is two. But he's attacking the mayor of a devastated city and using racist stereotypes all in one (he practiced for this after the London terrorist attack).
8. @realDonaldDrumpf
Nov 19, 2016 08:56:30 AM:
The Theater must always be a safe and special place. The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!
This tweet is about the VP-elect's attendance of the hit play "Hamilton," whose cast ended the performance by expressing the hope that "this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us."
Trump took the opportunity to remind us of the depths of his cynicism when he demanded a safe space for powerful white men. Brandon Victor Dixon, who gave the speech, is black, and Trump has made a habit of demanding apologies from black people.
9. @realDonaldDrumpf
Nov 29, 2017 07:16:21 AM:
Wow, Matt Lauer was just fired from NBC for "inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace." But when will the top executives at NBC & Comcast be fired for putting out so much Fake News. Check out Andy Lack's past!
The complete cynicism of the entire administration becomes painfully clear here. Remember how tough Lauer was on Clinton as he bro-ed it up with Trump? The 16 allegations of sexual harassment against Trump? Yeah. He still went there.
10. @realDonaldDrumpf
Dec 2, 2017 12:14:13 PM:I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI. He has pled guilty to those lies. It is a shame because his actions during the transition were lawful. There was nothing to hide!*
This one has an asterisk beside it because when it seemed like it could be an admission that Trump obstructed justice in the investigation of Flynn, Trump's creepy lawyer John Dowd claimed that he actually wrote the tweet.