Tag: twitter ban
Trump And Musk Spar As Former Guy Mocks The New 'Chief Twit'

Trump And Musk Spar As Former Guy Mocks The New 'Chief Twit'

Elon Musk’s tenure as Twitter CEO — or “Chief Twit,” as Musk himself put it — is off to the rockiest of starts, and former President Donald Trump, himself the founder of a beleaguered social media app, is privately enjoying every second of it.

Since Musk’s highly publicized takeover a week ago, Twitter has fostered a surge of right-wing extremism and conspiracies, lost a contingent of advertisers, laid off half of its workforce, and faced calls for a federal investigation on national security grounds.

As Musk contends with the controversies, botching his response to a growing outcry over the platform’s content moderation by sharing fake news himself, the former president has privately mocked the Tesla mogul, Rolling Stone reported Saturday, citing anonymous sources privy to the matter.

Despite cheering Musk’s takeover as Twitter’s return to “sane hands,” Trump is reportedly ecstatic with the slew of problems rattling the platform, from which he remains permanently banned.

“The [former] president is not mad about it, I’ll say that much,” a source told Rolling Stone. “He’s said some [snide] things about Musk maybe not being such a great business titan after all.”

Trump, the publication stated, considers Twitter’s troubles “a good business opportunity for his social media app, suggesting a larger share of MAGA users may migrate to his own ‘Truth Social.’”

Despite trolling his Democratic critics as Trump does, Musk has become the target of right-wing criticism for perceived reneging reneging on his promise to reverse Trump’s permanent Twitter ban, which he called “flat-out stupid,” and running afoul of his pledge to promote free speech on Twitter.

Musk’s announcement didn’t go down well with the MAGA right, including those who lauded his acquisition and were over the moon about his personal responses to their complaints on day one at the helm.

However, Trump's excitement at the Elon-led Twitter’s setbacks is laughable, given the problems that have besieged Truth Social since its founding.

Delays have plagued a $1.3 billion merger to provide Truth Social with much-needed capital and a stock market listing as previously contractually obligated investors jump ship. As a result, the blank-check company struggling to raise those funds, Digital World Acquisition Corporation, has changed its business address to a mailbox at a UPS store.

Furthermore, Trump’s following on his MAGA-friendly platform and bullhorn for right-wing misinformation — at 4.17 million users last month — is still only a fraction of what he had on Twitter, which was at 86 million users before his ban. As of September, Truth Social’s daily active users clocked 3.3 million, a smidgen of Twitter’s 238 million active daily users.

Despite rumors that Trump’s return to Twitter might be on the horizon, the former president has insisted that he’ll remain on his platform, saying, “I am not going on Twitter; I am going to stay on TRUTH.”

“Look who’s Number One – Truth. Does that make it worth more than 44 Billion Dollars???,” Trump wrote when Google allowed his Twitter clone back on its Android Play Store.

Musk has since clapped back at Trump, labeling Truth Social “a right-wing echo chamber” that “might as well be called Trumpet.”

“I don’t hate the man, but it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset,” Musk tweeted.


Donald Trump's suspended Twitter account

Twitter To Trump: You Are Banned Forever, No Matter What

Reprinted with permission from American Independent

Twitter executive Ned Segal on Wednesday said that even if Donald Trump ran for election in the future and was elected to the presidency, he would not be given back his Twitter account.

"When you're removed from the platform you're removed from the platform, whether you're a commentator, you're a CFO, or you are a former or current public official," Segal told CNBC.

Pressed to explain how the policy applies to Trump's specific case, Segal said, "He was removed when he was president and there'd be no difference for anybody who's a public official once they've been removed from the service."

Trump was permanently removed from Twitter in January. The service cited his support and praise of the rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, noting that inciting violence violates Twitter's terms.

From the Feb. 10 edition of CNBC's "Squawk Box":

BECKY QUICK, CNBC: One more question for you, President Trump was banned, former President Trump was banned, if he came back, ran for office again and was elected president, would you allow him back on the platform?
NED SEGAL: So the way our policies work, when you're removed from the platform you're removed from the platform, whether you're a commentator, you're a CFO, or you are a former or current public official.
And so, remember, our policies are designed to make sure that people are not inciting violence, and if anybody does that, we have to remove them from the service and our policies don't allow people to come back.
QUICK: So no?
SEGAL: He was removed when he was president and there'd be no difference for anybody who's a public official once they've been removed from the service.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.

Former President Donald Trump

Trump Sought Ownership Deal With Parler While Still President

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

While in office, former Donald Trump repeatedly profited off of both the presidency and his businesses. So it isn't really surprising that Trump tried to profit off of the far-right Twitter-copycat Parler too. Spoiler alert: It didn't work.

"The Trump Organization negotiated on behalf of then-president Donald Trump to make Parler his primary social network, but it had a condition: an ownership stake in return for joining," a recent Buzzfeed News report reveals. The talks reportedly began last summer and resumed after Trump lost the 2020 election.

Parler offered the Trump Organization a 40% stake in the company for Trump to join, with the idea that it would eventually challenge both Twitter and Facebook if Trump promised to post his content there four hours before posting it anywhere else. At a June 2020 meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Floria, Parler's now-former CEO John Matze and shareholders Dan Bongino and Jeffrey Wernick met with Trump's former campaign manager, accused grifter and spouse abuser Brad Parscale, as well as Trump campaign lawyer Alex Cannon.

Here's the deal's details:

"Upon completion of that deal, half of that stake would have been given immediately to the Trump Organization, while the other half would have been doled out in tranches over the 24-month period of the agreement.... Parler also asked that Trump link back to Parler when posting to other social media sites or emailing his supporters, and to allow the company to use his email lists to promote its platform. In addition, Parler wanted Trump to make introductions to any potential investors or advertisers."

Surprisingly, "the White House counsel's office soon put a stop to the talks, one person with knowledge of the discussions said, ruling that such a deal while Trump was president would violate ethics rules," Buzzfeed reports.

Then, talks completely disintegrated after the attempted coup at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. After the attempted coup, Amazon, Apple, and Google all booted Parler from their services because the social network had become a hotbed for right-wingers threatening violence and insurrection.

Parler has remained offline ever since. This week, Matze was booted as its CEO by the company's board and was also stripped of his severance and equity in the company. Matze claims he was booted because he wanted the so-called "free speech" network to introduce content moderation and ban accounts associated with far-right extremists, although the company has said his claim is inaccurate.

In addition to hosting far-right conspiracy theorists and bigots, Parler has also had trouble with child pornography being posted on its network, though the company refutes this as well.

The Trump family and Trump Organization, run by his sons, have both repeatedly made international business deals that benefitted from Trump's standing as president, according to Vox, CBS News, Politico, The Los Angeles Times and other publications.

#EndorseThis: With Millions Watching, Republicans Whine About Being 'Silenced'

#EndorseThis: With Millions Watching, Republicans Whine About Being 'Silenced'

Republican politicians incessantly claim that they are being silenced by the "radical left-wing media." But how can you be silenced when you're regularly speaking to millions upon millions of viewers on the most viewed news channel in America, Fox News?

Like a lot of things right-wingers say, it makes no sense. And The Washington Post isn't letting them get away with such obvious lies and fabrications.

You may be surprised how funny this brisk debunking is. Enjoy!


With millions watching, Republicans claim they are being silencedwww.youtube.com