Marie Yovanovitch, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, testified in the House impeachment inquiry on Friday, Nov. 15. According to NBC News, President Donald Trump tweeted the following during the trial: “Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad. She started off in Somalia, how did that go?”

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff read the tweet aloud during the hearing and asked Yovanovitch how Trump’s words affected her, to which she expressed feelings of intimidation. Schiff later told reporters, “We saw today witness intimidation in real time by the president of the United States.”

We have observed the crucial role that social media play in politics in the way Trump utilizes Twitter, and the aforementioned interaction is the epitome of this reality. Trump has continuously refused to testify in court, but, through Twitter, he essentially entered the courtroom without physically being there, and the public can do the same.

Social media act as an echo chamber for the public and a reason that it is divided along partisan lines. To the detriment of well-rounded comprehension of the issues at hand, people follow news sources that reflect and reinforce their beliefs. This phenomenon is impacting the impeachment hearings instantaneously,  leading some people to unthinkingly accept their parties’ stances.

      – The Editorial Staff