Blue bird in a coal mine: How 2020 Democratic presidential candidates framed climate change on Twitter

Abstract

ABSTRACT Climate change is a consensus issue among US Democrats, yet even within this agreement there can be divergence. Rooted in scholarship on rational choice theory and framing, this study content analyzes how the top four 2020 Democratic presidential candidates differentially framed climate change on Twitter. Results revealed that (a) progressive versus moderate Democrats constructed climate change narratives befitting their intraparty ideologies, (b) candidates created cohesive framing strategies across Entman’s framing functions and a newly proposed function of framing called ”affected publics,” and (c) climate change frames were integrated with the campaign’s overarching themes and issue foci.