"Delete your account." The ???? ?????? ??????? ????????ultimate Internet burn.
What's more shocking, though, is its source: presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in response to her November opponent: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
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Hours later, Senator Elizabeth Warren joined in, "No, seriously. -- Delete your account." Another burn.
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I'm not concerned for Trump. This stuff bounces off him like humble bounces off Kanye.
What bothers me is that Clinton and Warren chose to tweet these burns at all.
They're trolling Trump.
I like to think that some people, like those we elect to lead, are above this. Above the fray. They're adults.
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A candidate for president and a respected member of congress and possible VP choice are engaging in social media taunts. The first-ever female presumptive nominee teasing another candidate on Twitter. It's a wonder she didn't do it on Snapchat.
SEE ALSO: Hillary Clinton hits Donald Trump with ultimate Internet burnClinton and Warren have been outspoken on social media before, but these tweets were different. Trump reacted to Obama's endorsement of Clinton with his usual bluster and Clinton responded with, basically, a taunt.
Remember when politicians would say, "I'm not even going to dignify that with a response?"
Warren's response, to yet another Trump taunt, was even more perplexing for the typically voluble senator. She simply repeated what Clinton said.
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In this tit-for-tat online game, I guess it would be unfair to ask either Warren or Clinton to sit idly by while Trump trashes them.
Trump often doesn't come across on Twitter as an adult. He's always yelling as if he were trying to get the adults' attention, but they're so high up that the only way to reach them is by YELLING.
Are we better than this?
Social media has shortened the distance between the powerless and powerful, between the notable and unknown. It shows us queens and presidents at their most casual.
It has infected society at large. Presidents and candidates now do slow jams on TV, appear as characters on SNL and make comedy videos.
That's fun. It makes them more human.
But is there a line? How real do these people have to get? How much like the finally-voting age-counterparts who live and breath social do they have to be like? Are comebacks really the right artillery for a political battle between potential leaders?
No doubt Clinton's social team is patting itself on the back for a well-executed tweet, a kind of mic-drop, if you will. The Internet certainly ate it up. Nearly a half million likes and an almost equal number of retweets. Warren's "me, too" tweet got considerably less traction, but still pulled big engagement numbers compared to a typical tweet from anyone else. All this proves is that we're the audience, egging them on.
Let's be adults
"Oooh, snap!," should not be the goal of the Clinton campaign. It really shouldn't be Trump's either, but I doubt he cares what anyone thinks or about the level of social discourse.
Trolling is not about campaigning and certainly not about ideas. It's the equivalent of a schoolyard taunt or the first volley in a rap battle where the audience whoops and hollers over who got the biggest and best burn.
Now that Trump and Clinton are the presumptive nominees, I get the need for direct attacks, but tweets, 140 character witticisms, seem unqualified for the task. Clinton should save her ammunition for the first debate, where a mix of policy, ideals and, yes, a few burns will make for a compelling battle of wits.
Clinton, now is the time to start acting presidential. Let Trump roll around in the social media mud while the adults act like, well, adults.
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