This is what happens when Donald Trump attacks a private citizen on Twitter

[smilesammich 10,727]

About a year ago, 18-year-old college student Lauren Batchelder stood up at a political forum in New Hampshire and told Donald Trump that she didn’t think he was “a friend to women.”

The next morning, Trump fired back on Twitter — calling Batchelder an “arrogant young woman” and accusing her of being a “plant” from a rival campaign. Her phone began ringing with callers leaving threatening messages that were often sexual in nature. Her Facebook and email inboxes filled with similar messages. As her addresses circulated on social media and her photo flashed on the news, she fled home to hide.

“I didn’t really know what anyone was going to do,” said Batchelder, now 19, who has never discussed her experience with a reporter until now. “He was only going to tweet about it and that was it, but I didn’t really know what his supporters were going to do, and that to me was the scariest part.”

This is what happens when Trump targets a private citizen who publicly challenges him.

When Trump tweeted about Batchelder in October 2015, he had fewer than 5 million followers; he now has more than 17 million and has bragged that having a Twitter account is “like owning the New York Times without the losses.” Twitter has become Trump’s cyber-magic wand, allowing him to quickly act on a fleeting idea, a fit of anger or something he sees on television. Now that he is the president-elect, the power of Trump’s tweets has only increased.

Left, Donald Trump addresses the No Labels Problem Solver Convention in Manchester, N.H., in 2015. Right, Lauren Batchelder listens as Trump answers her question. (Reuters, AP/Reuters, AP)

With one tweet, Trump can change headlines on cable news, move financial markets or cause world leaders to worry. With one tweet last week, Trump inflamed a conflict with China. With another tweet on Tuesday, Trump caused Boeing stock to plummet. With a third on Wednesday night, Trump prompted a series of threatening calls to the home of a union leader who had called him a liar.

Although Trump said months ago that he was likely to give up Twitter if elected, he has shown little sign of doing so. He will soon inherit the @POTUS account, which has 12.5 million followers.

“I think I am very restrained, and I talk about important things,” Trump said during an interview with the “Today” show this week. “Frankly, it’s a modern-day form of communication. . . . I get it out much faster than a press release. I get it out much more honestly than dealing with . . . dishonest reporters. So many reporters are dishonest.”

For Batchelder, who studies history and gender studies at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H, the abuse continues more than a year later. Five days before the election, she received a Facebook message that read: “Wishing I could f---ing punch you in the face. id then proceed to stomp your head on the curb and urinate in your bloodied mouth and i know where you live, so watch your f---ing back punk.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/this-is-what-happens-when-donald-trump-attacks-a-private-citizen-on-twitter/2016/12/08/a1380ece-bd62-11e6-91ee-1adddfe36cbe_story.html?utm_term=.50ef1e44e0bc

[Eric-Pris 1,602]

Get off Twister, Fecesbook, Instacrap, and all the other social media. Problem solved.

[smilesammich 10,727]

Get off Twister, Fecesbook, Instacrap, and all the other social media. Problem solved.

there's a bigger problem here than the pleb's social media habits.

[Ban Hammer 12,829]

there's a bigger problem here than the pleb's social media habits.

yeah, the fascination with what someone said on the interwebs.......

[smilesammich 10,727]

yeah, the fascination with what someone said on the interwebs.......

exactly, trump has to learn to pick his battles. rookie mistake, i guess..

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Read about this yesterday. Wonder when exactly Tweetsolini plans to start acting Presidentially?

[The Nature Boy 7,659]

I wonder what would happen if he attacked a Major or Colonel citizen

[eieio 1,594]

I wonder what would happen if he attacked a Major or Colonel citizen

The beginning of the end?