When words like “authoritarian and propaganda” come up, usually one wouldn’t jump straight to thought of tweets. But, regardless of where one falls on the political spectrum, it can be agreed that our current president, Donald Trump, uses the Twitter platform to communicate directly with the American public in an unprecedented way.
But, are his tweets on par with historical examples of authoritarian rhetoric? And when does it become propaganda? Our guest has been digging into the history books, and the president’s twitter feed, to look for comparisons, which we’ll explore today so you can draw your own conclusions. Ron Feemster is a professor of journalism at Florida Southwestern State College. He’ll be presenting a lecture called President Trump's Twitter Feed: The Rhetoric of Authoritarian Propaganda on Wednesday, November 7 at the college’s Fort Myers campus.