Posting the Presidency: Cartoon Politics in a Social Media Landscape

Abstract

Successfully turning his Twitter presence into political power in a range of

ways, Donald Trump is among thefirst major political leaders to benefit from

fundamental changes in the media ecosystem. This article discerns

two dynamics at play in reshaping the media landscape: first, the fact that social media can quickly mobilise effective political constituencies. Second, the rhetorical mode Trump employs in effecting this shift from communities to constituencies reconfigures politics to assume the logic of cartoons. Trump presents and is represented as a character to whom the laws of cartoon physics apply, not in a traditional manner, as an object of political cartoons, but as a powerful agent, driving a logic of politics that engages meme-makers in novel ways.