Twitter Beef: A Consideration of Rhetorical Devices Used in Media Outlets

The 2018 Grammys went full fire and fury.

In a sketch during the award show, host James Corden gathered music greats Cher, John Legend, DJ Khaled, Cardi B and Snoop Dogg to audition to narrate Michael Wolff’s best-selling account of President Donald Trump’s White House, Fire & Fury: Inside the Trump White House, in an effort to get nominated for the Best Spoken Word Album category. (Carrie Fisher won for “The Princess Diarist” this year).

But there was one not-so-musically inclined reader in the mix too: Hillary Clinton.

Corden vetoed most of the auditions, including those from Legend and DJ Khaled. Cardi B ended her own reading on Trump’s cheeseburger and bedtime habits by saying: “Why am I even reading this shit? I can’t believe this. I can’t believe that he really. ... This how he lives his life?”

The sketch sent Twitter over the edge. Here’s what people were saying:

Meghan Schneider
@meghanloisann
Hillary reading "Fire and Fury" was the highlight of the #GRAMMYs. Show over.

shauna
@goldengateblond
Auditions for the audio version of Fire and Fury were OFF THE HOOK #Grammys

Hillary Clinton's surprise Trump-bashing cameo during the 60th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night caused at least a couple of viewers to switch channels, namely the president's U.N. ambassador, and Trump's oldest son. But the producer of the Grammys said the telecast stands by the controversial cameo.

Grammys host James Corden set up a pre-taped bit about who might take home next year's spoken word award.

"We know that our current president does love winning awards and the good news is he may just be the subject of next year's winner [for Best Spoken Word Album]," Corden announced. "The question I've got is, who'll be the narrator?"

Outspoken anti-Trump stars John Legend and Cher then auditioned to be the narrator for Michael Wolff's book "Fire and Fury" about Trump's White House.

Music celebrates its biggest night with honors, emotional performances, and political speeches.
Snoop Dogg, DJ Khaled and Cardi B also read excerpts from the book during the fake auditions.

Finally, Clinton read from the book and Corden declared, "That's it! We've got it!"

Clinton said, "You think so? The Grammy's in the bag?"

Corden replied, "In the bag!"

The segment resulted in wild applause from the star-studded crowd. But not all were pleased. United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley slammed the bit. However, the harshest words came from Donald Trump Jr.

Donald Trump Jr.
✔
@DonaldJTrumpJr
The more Hillary goes on television the more the American people realize how awesome it is to have @realDonaldTrump in office #GrammyAwards2018

Donald Trump Jr.
✔
@DonaldJTrumpJr
Getting to read a #fakenews book excerpt at the Grammys seems like a great consolation prize for losing the presidency. #GrammyAwards

Nikki Haley
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@nikkihaley
I have always loved the Grammys but to have artists read the Fire and Fury book killed it. Don’t ruin great music with trash. Some of us love music without the politics thrown in it.