COVFEFE Act

The Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement Act (COVFEFE Act) is a bill introduced by the United States House of Representatives on June 12, 2017, during the 115th United States Congress.

"COVFEFE" redirects here. For the word, see Covfefe.
The Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement Act
Democratic representative Mike Quigley introduced the legislation.

The bill amends the Presidential Records Act to preserve Twitter posts and other social media interactions of the President of the United States, and to require the National Archives to store such items.[1][2]

U.S. Representative Mike Quigley, Democrat of Illinois, introduced the legislation due to Donald Trump's routine use of Twitter, stating "In order to maintain public trust in government, elected officials must answer for what they do and say; this includes 140-character tweets. If the president is going to take to social media to make sudden public policy proclamations, we must ensure that these statements are documented and preserved for future reference".[1] If enacted, the bill "would bar the prolifically tweeting president from deleting his posts, as he has sometimes done".[1][2]

It would also see US law treat US presidents' personal social media accounts (e.g., Trump's "@realDonaldTrump" Twitter account) the same as "official" social media accounts (e.g., the "@POTUS" Twitter account).[2]

Background

The bill title refers to "covfefe", a misspelled word in a May 31, 2017 tweet that Trump sent at 12:06 AM EDT, reading "Despite the constant negative press covfefe". This incomplete tweet liked and retweeted hundreds of thousands of times, making it one of the most popular tweets of 2017, as people speculated on its meaning.[3] The tweet deleted at 5:48 AM EDT;[4] and Trump's account tweeted at 6:09 AM EDT, "Who can figure out the true meaning of 'covfefe' ??? Enjoy!"[5][6]

During the May 31 White House press briefing, Hunter Walker of Yahoo! News asked White House press secretary Sean Spicer about the tweet and if there was any concern about the president sending out incoherent tweets that stay up for hours. Spicer responded, "I think the president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant" and offered no other explanation. This unexpected response spawned additional media attention and criticism for its cryptic meaning, with commentators unsure if Spicer joked or not.[7]

Callum Borchers of The Washington Post's The Fix noted that the Trump administration deliberately responded in a way that encouraged the media and the public to focus on covfefe instead of other controversies like the Russia investigation, resignation of White House communications director Michael Dubke, or U.S.-Germany relations.[8]

Trump's tweets have been legally significant in the past. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer stated that Trump's tweets are "considered official statements by the President of the United States".[9]

His tweets also contradict his agenda by undercutting or contradicting public official statements as well as the arguments of U.S. Department of Justice attorneys seeking to defend Trump's decisions in court. A federal appellate court cited one of Trump's tweets in upholding a lower court's order blocking Trump's Executive Order 13780 from going into effect in 2017. Courts have been clear that Twitter statements can be used as evidence of intent.[10]

Trump blocked a number of users from his "@realDonaldTrump" Twitter account, preventing these users from viewing Trump's tweets or posting public replies. A group associated with Columbia University filed a lawsuit on behalf of blocked users, called Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump. Plaintiffs successfully argued that @realDonaldTrump reply threads constituted a "designated public forum" akin to a public meeting, and therefore blocking users based on their political viewpoints violated their constitutional right to freedom of speech.[11][12] The Second Circuit upheld this ruling on July 9, 2019.[13]

See also

References
  1. COVFEFE Act would preserve Trump's tweets as official statements, Reuters (June 13, 2017).
  2. Hamza Shaban, The COVFEFE Act would preserve Trump’s tweets as presidential records, Washington Post (June 12, 2017).
  3. Andrews, Travis M. (May 31, 2017). "Trump targets 'negative press covfefe' in garbled midnight tweet that becomes worldwide joke". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 31, 2017. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  4. Nelson, Louis (May 31, 2017). "Trump jokes on Twitter: Who can figure out 'covfefe'?". Politico. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  5. Berlinger, Joshua (May 31, 2017). "Covfefe: When a typo goes viral". CNN. Archived from the original on May 31, 2017. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  6. Trump, Donald J. (2017-05-31). "Who can figure out the true meaning of "covfefe" ??? Enjoy!". @realDonaldTrump. Retrieved 2020-05-07.
  7. "Sean Spicer addresses 'covfefe' kerfuffle: Trump 'and a small group of people know exactly what he meant'". Business Insider. May 31, 2017. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  8. "Is 'covfefe' just another distraction?". The Washington Post. May 31, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  9. Elizabeth Landers, White House: Trump's tweets are 'official statements', CNN (June 6, 2017).
  10. Amber Phillips, Anything Trump tweets can be (and just was) used against him in a court of law, Washington Post (June 12, 2017).
  11. Order on Motion for Summary Judgment in "Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University v. Trump" (filed May 23, 2018)
  12. Tom Kludt, , CNN (May 23, 2018).
  13. Katelyn Polantz and Jessica Schneider, , CNN (July 9, 2019).

Further reading
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