Twitter users warm to a robot that replies to president’s tweets by replying with a clip of his thoughts printed and set alight

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old





A robot that prints out Trump’s tweets and burns them has caught the imagination of Twitter users.

The account @burnedyourtweet appeared on Tuesday, first responding to a Trump tweet about Fox and Friends:

Burned Your Tweet (@burnedyourtweet) @RealDonaldTrump I burned your tweet. pic.twitter.com/AfXAGudig8

The robot prints off a tweet, cuts it and then drags the paper over to a lighter before discarding the ashes. Since it began tweeting, it has amassed almost 20,000 followers.

From yet another swipe at the New York Times …

Burned Your Tweet (@burnedyourtweet) .@RealDonaldTrump I burned your tweet. pic.twitter.com/oOkFcSOGir

… to rants about fake news:

Burned Your Tweet (@burnedyourtweet) .@RealDonaldTrump I burned your tweet. pic.twitter.com/B0f1v0FkEb

No Trump tweet is safe. It has has had the seal of approval from Simone Giertz, “the queen of shitty robots”, who tweeted: “This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.”

Simone Giertz (@SimoneGiertz) THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING I'VE EVER SEEN https://t.co/oEhrRGQPe0

The jury is out on whether the robot is some sort of publicity stunt. New York magazine noted the robot followed some accounts of people working in creative and advertising agencies.

As of yet, the robot’s creator has not come forward. The Guardian has contacted @burnedyourtweet for comment.

The replies to Trump’s tweets have become prime social media real estate. And @burnedyourtweet follows a tradition of automated accounts based on his 140-character outbursts – although these tend to be Twitter bots rather than feats of mechanical engineering.

Earlier this year, an advertising company created the “Trump and dump” bot, which automatically trades stocks based on his negative tweets about companies.