As successor’s spokesman says controversial use of Twitter ‘gets results’, current Oval Office occupant sends out tweet storm underlining his legacy

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Barack Obama on Sunday used Twitter, a medium notoriously favoured by the man who will succeed him in the White House, to tout his achievements in office.

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“As we look ahead to the future,” Obama wrote in his first tweet, “I wanted to take a moment to look back on the remarkable progress that you made possible these past [eight] years.”

From 20 January and for the next four years, barring unforeseen circumstances, Obama’s place in the Oval Office will be taken by the businessman Donald Trump.

On Sunday Trump’s incoming White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, told ABC’s This Week the president-elect would continue to use Twitter to announce policy and make comment on current events.

The medium, he said, was a way to avoid mainstream media outlets and get his message directly to the American public.

Despite widespread concern over the flagrant provocation and outright disregard for protocol displayed by many of Trump’s tweets, Spicer said: “You know what? The fact of the matter is that when he tweets, he gets results.”

In an interview with CBS 60 Minutes after his election victory over Hillary Clinton, Trump said that he would now be “very restrained, if I use it at all” regarding social media. He has not achieved that aim.

On 28 December, to take one among many examples, he used Twitter to say: “Doing my best to disregard the many inflammatory President O statements and roadblocks. Thought it was going to be a smooth transition – NOT!”

On Sunday, the subject of that tweet sent out sober comments about a number of results he has achieved.

“Facing the worst financial crisis in 80 years,” he wrote, “you delivered the longest streak of job growth in our history.

“After decades of rising healthcare costs, today nearly every American now has access to the financial security of affordable healthcare.”



The latter tweet spoke to a key concern among Democrats, as Trump and Republicans in Congress consider ways to repeal the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

Obama is reportedly arranging a meeting with congressional Democrats to consider ways to preserve his signature legislative achievement.

The president’s next tweet hinted at progressive fears over Trump’s nomination of a number of climate change deniers to key positions in his cabinet.

Obama continued: “We traded foreign oil for clean energy, we doubled fuel efficiency standards [and] we acted on a global scale to save the one planet we’ve got.”

He added: “We brought home more of our troops [and] strengthened US leadership– leading with diplomacy [and] partnering with nations to meet global problems.”

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Obama also said: “From realizing marriage equality to removing barriers to opportunity, we’ve made history in our work to reaffirm that all are created equal.”

In conclusion, the president tweeted: “It’s been the privilege of my life to serve as your president. I look forward to standing with you as a citizen. Happy New Year everybody.”

Obama’s @POTUS Twitter account has 12.9 million followers, compared with 18.3 million for @RealDonaldTrump.

As of 5pm ET on New Year’s Day, the president-elect had not tweeted anything since a series of celebratory tweets and retweets sent shortly before the turn of the year.

Not long before that, he tweeted a supposedly conciliatory message: “Happy New Year to all, including to my many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don’t know what to do. Love!”