Monday, January 9, 2017

Looking for Apologies in Trump's Tweets

(This is my last planned post about Trump's tweets.)

With Donald Trump using so many of his 30,000 plus tweets to insult people, I decided to look into how often he apologized. I searched his Twitter archive for the instances when he used a variant of apology, e.g., apology, apologies, apologize, etc.

Donald Trump's favorite insults.


Insult [# tweets]

  • Crooked [283]
  • Loser [243]
  • Stupid [182]
  • Dumb [147]
  • Bad (TV or radio) ratings [92]
  • Dummy [77]
  • Moron [52]




So what does Trump have to say regarding apologies? Variations of the word appear in 108 tweets.

Three tweets were about his philosophy of apologizing.

  • Never apologize for fake controversies.
  • Fully believe in apologies but you have to be wrong.
  • If someone knows they made a mistake and they apologize, forgive them and move on, but never trust them again.

Apologies of others.

About half of the "apology" tweets mention those who should, who should not and who did apologize.

23 posts state X should apologize. Apologize in general or apologize to someone specifically.
  e.g., CNN for their bias toward Hillary Clinton.
8 posts state X did apologize.
  e.g., Ted Cruz to Marco Rubio and Ben Carson for fraud and dirty tricks.
13 posts advising others to not apologize.
  e.g. General Petraeus - stop apologizing.
4 complaints that Obama apologizing.
  e.g. How many times has Obama apologized for our country on foreign soil?!
 
Trump and Apologies.


Although Trump does not apologize, about half of the tweets are about people who should or who did apologize to him, declarations that he would not apologize or passing along apologies from his staff. 

28 posts state X should apologize to Trump.
  e.g. [CNN's] Chuck Todd should apologize for attacking Trump and Jack Welch when they said Obama cooked job report.
12 posts state X did apologize to Trump.
  e.g. Vicente Fox, President of Mexico.
5 posts stating Trump will not apologize.
  e.g. Still waiting for the apology on the birth certificate thing. You must be kidding joker!
2 My staff screwed up. (These were not phrased as Trump apologizing for his staff. They were his staff apologizing.)
  e.g. Young intern who accidentally retweeted.

Sorry. 

Trump used the word "sorry" in 68 tweets. Did any of these represent apologies from him?

This is harder to sort out. Trump most often wields the word sorry with sarcasm. I highlighted sorry because it is easy to miss it among the general venom. These three tweets are directed at his obsessions (in order): Rosie O'Donnell, Danny Zukor, and Mark Cuban.

  • Dec 8, 2014 9:53:59 PM Sorry, @Rosie is a mentally sick woman, a bully, a dummy and, above all, a loser. Other than that she is just wonderful!
  • Jun 12, 2013 9:46:43 PM Just tried watching Modern Family - written by a moron, really boring. Writer has the mind of a very dumb and backward child. Sorry Danny!
  • Mar 19, 2013 2:08:25 PM Sorry folks, but Donald Trump is far richer and much better looking than dopey @mcuban!

In some instances, he is sorry that others have gotten it wrong, in these two examples, about his intelligence and athleticism:

  • May 8, 2013 9:37:06 PM Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest -and you all know it! Please don't feel so stupid or insecure, it's not your fault
  • Apr 3, 2013 8:51:59 AM I played football and baseball, sorry, but said to be the best bball player in N.Y. State-ask coach Ted Dobias-said best he ever coached.

Trump did make 13 apologies using the word "sorry" on thirteen occasions. Two were related to Twitter and eleven were related to not appearing somewhere.

  • Dec 11, 2012 1:10:51 PM Some dope tweeted my message to my friend Bill Belichick incorrectly--they called him Bob. Sorry Bill! @Patriots
  • May 17, 2014 2:02:45 AM Sorry, for all of the millions of people who long to hear my brilliant words of wisdom on Fox & Friends on Monday A.M., no go - in Dubai.

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Martin Hill Ortiz is the author of Never Kill A Friend, Ransom Note Press.




Never Kill A Friend, Ransom Note Press

Never Kill A Friend is available for purchase in hard cover format and as an ebook.
The story follows Shelley Krieg, an African-American detective for the Washington DC Metro PD as she tries to undo a wrong which sent an innocent teenager to prison.

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