However, this is a slight misrepresentation of what happened. While it is technically a gaffe, being a rather embarrassing social blunder, that would imply that Donald Trump should have known who the 'parents' in the photograph were. Trump, an American, has no reason to know who Fred and Rose West were, nor what they look like. A pair of British serial killers who were in the UK news over a decade would have barely registered as news in the United States. Indeed it is most likely that American Twitter users gleefully enjoying the schadenfreude of a pompous billionaire, think that Fred West was that bloke who McNulty from The Wire played in a film.
This mockery of a disliked powerful figure tells us as much about Twitter as it does about Donald Trump. Twitter is something of a equalizer in that it affords 'normal' people a level playing field with celebrities and authority figures. The unprecedented access granted by a tweet to a famous person means that potential exists for an instant response to a piece of fan-mail which did not exist before social media. This, combined with the understanding by celebrities that Twitter is best used when you engage with interested people, gives an ideal opportunity to occasionally make very famous people look very silly.
Donald Trump is the perfect target for what was, rather than a gaffe, an expertly aimed prank. He is, to say the least, a divisive figure; a rich and powerful man who has a reputation for doing what he likes regardless of the consequences for other people. This is illustrated exquisitely by Anthony Baxter's film You've Been Trumped, which tells the (sadly true) story of Trump's determination to build a luxury resort in an area of outstanding natural beauty in Scotland. In the film, Baxter attempts to interview Trump and is promptly arrested for 'breach of the peace'.
As it happens, during filming for Baxter's follow up film A Dangerous Game, which revisits the story of the controversial golf course, Trump finally granted Baxter an interview because the BBC had screened You've Been Trumped on the grounds that Baxter was now important enough. The self-importance and narcissism displayed in actions such as these demonstrate how it was possible to make Trump look a fool with a simple tweet. Contrary to Trump's subsequent protestation that he was "being nice to somebody re their parents", he was retweeting the picture because he thought it would make him look good. He was told he was "an inspiration" to the people in the photo and wanted his 2.7 million followers to know it.
I thought I was being nice to somebody re their parents. I guess this teaches you not to be nice or trusting. Sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 29, 2014
And here is the real audacity in @feckhead's prank, to use a widely circulated photograph of two infamous psychopaths which had appeared in every national newspaper in the UK. All Donald Trump had to do was run the image through Google's image search and he'd have known instantly that this was a joke. He can easily be forgiven for not recognising the Wests, but by falling for an easily avoidable joke he showed himself to be out of touch with technology and, perhaps, the public perception of him. To make things worse, Trump later showed a complete lack of class or a sense of humour by threatening to sue for the original tweet. Legal expert @JackofKent summarised the chances of that:
So @realdonaldtrump is threatening to sue: https://t.co/SuxjpHA9y9
I am afraid stupidity does not give rise to a cause of action.
— Jack of Kent (@JackofKent) September 29, 2014
One thing's for sure. Donald Trump is unlikely to blithely retweet photos anymore.
