Within 24 hours of President Donald Trump's disgusting Twitter outburst targeting MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, two stories making the rounds on social media provided a very different take on life in America in 2017.
That got the Star Tribune Editorial Board thinking: What if Trump used Twitter as a tool to hold up acts of kindness and generosity instead of as a vehicle to attack those who have in some way offended his delicate sensitivities? What if he used Twitter to highlight what's already great about this country?
Sure, it's naive to think a Trump social media transformation will begin anytime soon, if ever. But let's just ponder those two aforementioned stories for a minute and consider the impact they might have had on the president's nearly 40 million Twitter followers.
There's motorist Andy Mitchell, who could have ignored Justin Korva, the young man in a fast-food uniform he recently noticed walking along a road on a 95-degree day in Rockwall, Texas. Instead, he offered Korva a ride and learned that the 20-year-old made the 3-mile walk to and from work each day. Mitchell recounted the experience on Facebook, prompting strangers to donate more than $5,000 to buy Korva a new car.
Then there's Major League Baseball umpire John Tumpane, who instinctively grabbed a 23-year-old woman who had hopped over the railing of the Roberto Clemente Bridge in Pittsburgh on Wednesday and appeared to be planning to take her own life. "You'll forget me tomorrow," the woman said, asking Tumpane to let her go. "I'll never forget you," he told her. "You can have my promise on that."
The woman was eventually lifted back over the railing, and Tumpane tried to comfort her before paramedics took over. "I told her, 'I didn't forget her, and we'd be here, and she's better off on this side than the other side.' I just want her to know that," he recalled in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Trump's use of Twitter amplifies his voice while revealing much about his character. He too often comes across as a self-absorbed, insecure bully. In other words, the antithesis of Andy Mitchell and John Tumpane — two everyday heroes whose stories would have provided a refreshing change of pace for @realDonaldTrump.
