How Gerald Butts's combative use of Twitter brought him out of the shadows

Key aides to a prime minister generally preferto stay in the shadows, perhaps providing background information to Parliament Hill journalists, butrarely giving interviews or generating much of a public persona.

In some ways, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau'sformer principal secretaryGerald Buttscarried on that tradition, rarely quoted, speaking to journalists only on background.

But he was particularly outspoken on the social media siteTwitter.

Butts, who resigned Mondayin the wake of the SNC-Lavalinaffair, garnered a reputation of being a prolific tweeter, never shy to expresshis opinions, or "personal views" as he referred to them.

He would promote and champion the Liberal Party and the prime minister's policy initiatives. But he would alsodefend the prime minister, sometimes lash out at critics, take partisan swipes at the Conservativesandengage in Twitter spats with politicians and journalists.

Even before Trudeau became prime minister in 2015, Butts was a presence on Twitter. In that year'selection campaign, Butts wentafter one of his favourite targets, news media company Postmedia, over their articles about Trudeau's insistence that all new Liberal candidates must be pro-choice on abortion.

And just before the election.

But afterTrudeaubecame primeminister, Butts's criticism about the media company continued: Sometimes in a more cheeky manner:

Butts would also tangle withjournalists, as he did over a Vogue photo shoot of Trudeau andhis wifeSophie Grgoire-Trudeau.

Or critiques of Trudeau's availability to the media:

In 2018, when the Liberals announced tax incentives for the news industry, some journalists expressed concerns aboutwhat theymight mean for journalisticindependence.

He certainly wasn't abovescoldingthe media.

Here, he made a veiled critique ofCanadian media for following stories on Russian websites raising questions about the grandfather ofForeignAffairs Minister ChrystiaFreeland and his ties to the Nazis.

He also went after the Globe and Mail in 2016 over an editorial about questions surrounding the birthplace of Liberal cabinet minister Maryam Monsef, comparing the article to the birther movement that falsely claimed former U.S. president Barack Obama was not born in the U.S.

Which sparked its own backlashwith some journalists.

Butts would alsotangle with politicians.Conservative MP ErinO'Toolewas a regular opponent.

So was Alberta's United Conservative Party Leader JasonKenney.

FormerSaskatchewanpremier Brad Wall, as well, got into an exchangeover his survey about pipeline politics.

Butts would also get involved in Twitter skirmishes with policy analysts. In February 2016, hedebated with experts overthe Liberals' ant-ISISplan.

Twitter was also a tool to launch defences of his boss.He slammed critics who ridiculed Trudeau for using the term peoplekindinstead ofmankindduring a town hall in Edmonton.

Although Trudeau later brushed it off as a"dumb joke,"Butts would take a step further, suggesting those who were so offended by the term werealt-right Nazi sympathizers.

Butts regularly employed the alt-rightcharacterization, and he used it again to labelthose he felt were prejudiced against asylum seekers.

That ledto this exchange with Toronto Sun editor emeritus and columnistLorrie Goldstein:

Naturally, the federal Torieswere constant target. Whether it was the previous Harper government:

Or the current Conservativeparty:

Indeed,the formerCEO of the World Wildlife Federation's Canadian office madehis political opponents' climate changepolicies, or thelack thereof, a consistent topic.

It may be fitting that Butts, shortly after his resignation, used the forum to post his resignation letter and thank those who offered notes of encouragement.