When running a campaign, when is it a good idea to co-opt a personal tragedy for retweets and votes?

For brands, the answer is definitely never. For Presidential candidates, politicizing a person’s death — especially when their politics are counter to your own — is usually a fire-starter. But Donald Trump’s campaign runs out outrage. The Republican’s baiting tweets often work for him, not against him.

Will the Dwyane Wade gaffe destroy Donald Trump on Twitter? Or is the “mistake” another key step in Trump’s shock-and-awe strategy?

Gun Control vs. Tough on Crime

In the 2016 Presidential election, a key differentiation point between candidates is the second amendment. Hillary Clinton has positioned herself as the gun control candidate; even Bernie Sanders is against background checks. Hillary has succeeded in gathering support from minorities living in urban centres due to her voting record on gun control and emphasis on anti-violence policies in her campaign.

Donald Trump, as the Republican nominee, has taken on the party’s values around the right to bear arms. According to Fox News, Donald Trump is running as the “law-and-order” candidate; he frequently uses #MakeAmericaSafeAgain on his Twitter account. Sometimes, it can be difficult to tell if his tweets are tough on crime or tough on minorities.

Trump’s “Dwayne” tweet didn’t come across as tough on crime to everyone. Throughout his campaign, Trump has been criticized for racism, including statements against “the blacks.” Appropriating a gun violence tragedy for his campaign, particularly one involving minorities he has sidelined, read as opportunistic on social media. Trump’s political views couldn’t be further from those of the grieving family, making the tragedy a poor fit for his campaign. Misspelling Dwyane the more “conventional” way added insult to injury.

Did the tweet impact Donald Trump’s momentum on Twitter?

Trump Falls Out

Caught in the crossfire of a fight that had nothing to do with her, on August 26 Nykea Aldridge was shot while taking her daughter for a walk in her stroller. That night, Dwyane Wade tweeted about his cousin’s death, condemning gun violence. In replies to Wade’s tweet, Trump followers got to him before Trump did.

Donald Trump tweeted at 9:24 AM the next morning, on August 27. By that afternoon, the story had been picked up by most major news outlets and aggregators like Jezebel.

Response from Wade and other outraged Twitter users was swift and brutal. Donald Trump quickly deleted the original tweet and sent out a corrected version, with the right spelling of Dwyane — and the same message.

After retweeting Trump, comedian Don Cheadle asked the candidate to “die in a grease fire.”

Criticism of Trump from other outraged Twitter users quickly followed. Hashtag #dwyanewade took off.