Former President Donald Trump unveiled his new social media platform on Wednesday after lengthy reviews of major sites Facebook and Twitter.
Trump has been banned from Twitter and Facebook for two years, bans broadcast in the wake of the fatal Capitol on Jan. 6, and has described his new platform, called TRUTH Social, as a way to “oppose the tyranny of big tech. “. “
The former president, an avid social media user before his suspensions, took to Twitter to talk to his supporters and has continuously hinted that he will run for re-election to the White House in 2024.
A beta edition of TRUTH Social will launch in November ahead of its implementation in the first quarter of next year, a few months before the critical 2022 midterm elections. An official announcement of the crusade can be made once it is operational.
Newsweek asked experts if TRUTH Social could give any direction in Trump’s timeline for a possible third circular in the Oval Office and if there were other points at stake in his new venture.
“It’s no secret that Trump is still ruminating on his Twitter ban, and it’s no wonder he’s rushing to create his own social media platform,” said Thomas Gift, founding director of the Center for American Policy at University College London.
“For Trump, this is an opportunity to ‘stick’ to big tech, give MAGA supporters unfiltered their thoughts, and recreate the kind of megaphone that made it a hit in 2016,” he told Newsweek.
“While the launch of TRUTH Social is very likely to be another indication that Trump intends to run in 2024, and could even take a look at his planned timeline, there are still any and all explanations for why to think Trump is in a hurry to jump into the fight.
“The longer Trump waits to testify, the more suspense he can generate around his presidential bid and the more he can block other Republican candidates,” Gift said.
Paul Quirk, a political scientist at the University of British Columbia, told Newsweek that the former president had reasons to create a social network other than a presidential bid.
“Trump has several reasons to pursue the creation of a social media platform. Expect it to bring cash directly,” Quirk said.
“He wants a way to stay in touch with his base and remain a force within the Republican Party. And it will use it to solicit donations for all purposes, which will increase its non-public spending. “This company whether you intend to run for president or not. The surprising thing is that it took him so long after the Twitter and Facebook bans.
“Running for president or not will not be a simple call for Trump. He would possibly have realized that about a third of the Republican electorate doesn’t even need him to remain a leading figure in the Republican Party,” Quirk said.
A Pew Research Center poll released Oct. 6 showed that 32% of Trump Republicans deserve not to remain a national political figure, while 67% said they deserve it.
Mark Shanahan, an associate professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Reading and co-editor of The Trump President: From Campaign Trail to World Stage, told Newsweek that the launch of TRUTH Social has already had what Trump wished for. .
“Trump has been silent recently: too quiet for his taste and too far from the public’s attention to feel anyhow applicable to the upcoming presidential and midterm elections,” Shanahan said.
“And while TRUTH Social is lately just a sign-up page, it has already brought it back to the news agenda, attracting far more attention than any other virtual startup expects.
“With a sleek launch planned for November and a full launch in the first quarter of next year, this turns out to be a wonderful way for POTUS 45 to check the waters to see the point of appeal it still has among the Republican electorate and whether it can still make that call bigger to independents and even comfortable middle Democrats who want a 2024 crusade to have a chance of having. success,” he said.
“But a press doesn’t create a platform that surpasses Twitter,” Shanahan warned.
To its credit, the proposed app appears to be a combination of Trump’s call and someone else’s cash, a positive for Trump, and appears to have really extensive monetary support. a position on It’s time to take anything other than the smallest slice of the market governed through Twitter and Facebook, when there would possibly be barriers to launch if Apple and Google outlets decide not to list the app.
“And will users flock to an obviously politicized vehicle — much closer to Gab or Talk than Twitter, for example — where the fine print already tells users that debates critical of Trump will be tolerated and where they are more likely to be bombarded through many blatantly right-wing advertising?Shanahan asked.
“Some, of course, will waste that, but only a small fraction of the 38 million people who followed the former president on Twitter,” he said.
“It will be niche, and as long as major players continue to deny him his social media megaphone, Trump will be denied his main crusade tool: the ability to use major social media platforms to make history for him, day in and day out. “
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