World / Trump tweets 115 times in 1 day amid impeachment charges

The always prolific tweeter-in-chief appears to have hit a new record.

The president’s @realDonaldTrump account had tweeted and retweeted 115 times by late Thursday night, marking what could be his most active day on the platform yet.

The avalanche came as the House judiciary committee pressed toward a historic vote on Friday to approve articles of impeachment against him.

Trump has noticeably ramped up his tweeting during the impeachment inquiry. He tweeted 77 times on Wednesday and 105 times on Sunday, repeatedly declaring his innocence and retweeting comments and video of supporters defending his conduct.

Trump's record-high 123 tweets yesterday were more in a single day than he posted in any full week in 2017. All told, it brought his total since Sunday to 367, the most since taking office of any week — with two days still to go. ⁦@maggieNYT⁩ https://t.co/UeZGJdETVR

— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) December 13, 2019

But Trump also made time on Thursday for a harsh tweet aimed at 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg, one day after she was named Time magazine’s person of the year. Trump told the Swedish teenager to “Chill!” adding that she “must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend!”

Thunberg has been open about her diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder associated with high intelligence and impaired social skills.

Trump also took time on Thursday for a tweet promoting Mar-a-Lago, the private club he owns in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump’s relationship with the club has raised alarm among ethics experts who note that members and guests can pay for access to the president, who spends frequent winter weekends at the resort.

Thursday’s deluge of tweets drew the attention of a leading 2020 Democrat, the former vice-president Joe Biden, who tweeted that Trump should “Give it a rest, man”.

Trump’s re-election campaign slapped back, quipping: “Sleepy Joe knows a lot about rest.”

A White House spokesman, Judd Deere, added that Trump’s “use of technology to communicate directly with the American people should be praised, not criticized”. He said the media should focus on Trump’s accomplishments “instead of obsessing over how many times the president has tweeted”.