June 12, 2017
Love it or hate it, President Donald Trump has taken social media to a wave-making level no previous commander-in-chief has either dared or been foolhardy enough to attempt.
One U.S. Congressman thinks that's fine, as long as the president is willing to submit his Twitter musings into the official record.
Illinois Rep. Mike Quigley, co-founder and co-chair of the Congressional Transparency Caucus, on Monday introduced legislation that would amend the Presidential Records Acr to include the term "social media" as documentary material. The bill would ensure that the National Archives collects all presidential communication and statements made via social media platforms.
Appropriately, Quigley named the bill after Trump's now-famous "COVFEFE" gaffe, in which he attempted to slam biased media "coverage" but apparently did not spell check his tweet. Or finish writing it, for that matter.
One of President Donald Trump's typos made for an extraordinary level of social-media chatter on Tuesday, May 30, 2017. Then, it was deleted.
In 2014, the National Archives issued a guidance advocating for the historical merits of recording social media. A year later, President Obama launched the official @POTUS Twitter account, whose contents were generally reserved and promotional. Quigley's bill aims to cover Trump's personal @realDonaldTrump account, which the Congressman said acts as the president's de facto account for government business.
"Including social media in the Presidential Records Act ensures that deleted tweets are documented for archival purposes, and makes deleting tweets a violation of the Presidential Records Act, subject to disciplinary action," read a statement on the proposed legislation.
Quigley has been fighting the Trump administration's efforts to roll back government transparency in recent months. Anoth bill he introduced would require the publication of visitor logs to the White House or any other location where President Trump regularly conducts official business.
