Truth Social may not be the conservative, safe space the former president was seeking. (images below)
After Donald Trump was kicked off of Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube for trying to overturn the 2020 election, he had a special social media site of his own built. A place where he could post his ‘truths’—meaning his same lies, conspiracy theories, and attacks that would be removed on most decent mainstream platforms—without pushback.
He can claim, for instance, that the January 6th Committee destroyed all the evidence found in their investigation (though, in reality, it’s all backed up on a website and has been handed over to NARA) without getting a fact-check attached to his post.
When federal or state prosecutors unload a barrage of felony charges against Trump, it’s no surprise that he always uses Truth Social to attack his opponents to the glee of his small but unshakable MAGA Republican base.
Surprising, though, is that the amount of pushback for some of his posts is growing.
There’s no option on the site to add a fact-check or report disinformation posts can be reported for prostitution, underage content, and doxxing, among other options, but not for falsity.
That’s not stopping a rush of accounts telling him why he’s wrong.
For instance, on Wednesday, Trump posted that “crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ” had “secretly attacked” his Twitter account. The first few replies do center on demonizing the January 6th Committee and ionizing Trump, but it’s not a far scroll to this comment:
“Please stop. It is not Biden’s DOJ. It is an INDEPENDENT PROSECUTOR on behalf of the American People! And YES! He subpoenaed your Twitter account! Why? Because you used Twitter to defame people, to attack people, to incite violence against this country, and to lie every single day, spreading dangerous disinformation to people who trusted you.”
It’s closely followed by another poster’s response — a meme depicting a screaming Trump over the text:
“Nothing says ‘I’m innocent’ like threatening the Attorney General’s family, the Special Counsel’s family, and the President of the United States’ family.”
On another post, where Trump declares that the sitting president is “not only dumb and incompetent” but “a stark raving lunatic,” one of the top responses is a Trump book cover — with text edited so the title reads, “I crippled America,” with the subtitle, “I’m a corrupt sack of sh*t, a traitor, and a serial liar.”
Another response to the same post shows Trump’s miserable screaming face with the words, “Somebody’s triggered.”
Another of Trump’s Wednesday posts claims that the indictments against him are not legitimate and that Joe Biden orchestrated them. One of the top replies informs him:
“If Trump is not held accountable Republicans will never win again the whole country will start turning blue. Republicans like myself will not vote for any traitor like Trump or those he supports true Republicans see them as the danger they are.”
None of this should suggest that TruthSocial has been overtaken by the left or that the anti-Trump sentiments outnumber the Trump worship, the clickbait, or even the scammy ads for gold coins, crypto, and “natural cures.”
Aside from being a tool for disseminating information, TruthSocial is a handy place for Trump to absorb the cult-like devotion he thrives on.
With every post-Donald Trump makes, he’s on the receiving end of multiple responses singing his praises.
But a factless social network is not just good for Donald J. Trump.
It is also a valuable tool for con artists, purveyors of right-wing merchandise, and clickbaiters, who can always be seen seeking attention in their replies.
However, you cut it; the posts described above and shown below mark a departure from the thrice-indicted ex-president’s tame echo chamber.
Pushback has got to hurt Trump on his site that was once a safe haven for right-wing extremism, reality denial, and conspiracy theories and now allows reality to intrude on his ‘truths.’
See a crop of factually accurate Truth Social screenshots criticizing Trump below:
