Donald Trump.Photo: James Devaney/GC Images
A spokesman forDonald Trumpis downplaying a detailed new report that the former president is frustrated over the pace of progress in launching his new media platform,Truth Social.
“The demand for President Trump, his leadership, and his America First solutions continue to grow despite Big Tech’s attack on his freedom of speech. The movement President Trump built is omnipresent throughout social media, like a MAGA block chain,” Taylor A. Budowich said in a statement sent to PEOPLE in response to questions about a Monday story inThe Washington Postabout delays in the development of Truth Social.
“His influence is not limited to any one verified account. To cancel Trump, Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms would have to cancel a majority of their most engaged users,” Budowich went on, echoing his boss. “The fact is you can’t cancel MAGA, because MAGA is America.”
While he eventually urged them to leave the Capitol, he also praised the group and tweeted “these are the things and events that happen. … Remember this day forever!”
A year later — a year in which he has had to send statements via email to reporters rather than blast out social media posts — Trump is “antsy” to get back online so he and his team can communicate directly with followers, raise money and weigh in on political news, including a multitude of races in the 2022 midterm elections coming in November, thePostreported.
But people familiar with the project told the paper the debut of Truth Social, which wasannounced in October, is likely still months away.
A rollout of the app was “expected in the first quarter of 2022,” the Trump Media & Technology Group said in its October announcement. Since then, the companyhas drawn scrutinyfor itsintention to mergewith Digital World Acquisition Corp.
A timeline of five to six months is not unusual for merger deals to close, according to an expert cited in thePoststory, which also states that it’s not clear whether Trump’s new media company has raised its own money to launch its initiatives.
Donald Trump.Michael Kovac/WireImage
Delays in hiring workers to build and launch Truth Social has been complicated and slow-going, at least in part because of investigations related to the merger, according to thePost.
But the former president has so far declined lucrative offers to be associated with other social media apps like Gettr and Parler that are already up and running in favor of launching his own, Trump-branded platform.
Former California Rep. Devin Nunes is one high-profile hire that was announced as Nunesstepped down from his job in Congressearlier this month to become the CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group. That umbrella company has yet to launch any initiatives, including Truth Social.
An iPhone-only app is “coming soon” and “expected Feb. 21, 2022,” according to a page forTruth Social on Apple’s App Store.
An early version of Truth Social was discovered shortly after it was announced in October, allowing users to sign up, register and pick apart the app. The TruthSocial.com pages were later taken down and unverified accounts were disabled.
In December, Trump Media and Technology Group announced anagreement with Rumble Inc., a video distribution platform its CEO said is “immune to cancel culture.”
Trumpsaid in a statementabout the deal that his new company has “already launched Truth Social on the Rumble Cloud for invited guests only, and the initial Beta launch has been excellent.”
source: people.com
