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<\/p>\nDonald Trump says he won’t rejoin Twitter even if the social media platform’s new owner, Elon Musk, reinstates his account.<\/p>\n
The news comes as the former president struggles to promote his own social media app, Truth Social, which has been beset by issues since its launch. “I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on Truth,” Trump told Fox News on Monday. “I hope Elon buys Twitter because he’ll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on Truth.”<\/p>\n
It’s possible that Trump won’t follow through on declining to rejoining Twitter if offered. The platform was essential to Trump’s rise to power in 2015 and 2016, as media outlets continually covered his posts — often without context or fact checking. During his presidency, advisers continually pressed him to stop tweeting, saying it was distracting from the administration’s messaging, but the president declined to heed their advice.<\/p>\n
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Trump was kicked off Twitter following the attack on the Capitol last Jan. 6, with the company writing that his account was removed “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” Trump and other Republicans have since used the ban to claim Big Tech companies are biased against conservatives. Alternative apps like Gettr, the platform run by former Trump adviser Jason Miller, have followed. Trump announced Truth Social last fall, with Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) announcing in December that he would be leaving Congress to serve as CEO.<\/p>\n
The platform hasn’t quite taken off like Trump expected, though. The app, which is under federal investigation, has been ridden with bugs and glitches, prospective users were stuck on a wait list for months, and its download numbers are anemic. The launch was so disastrous that two top executives quit out of frustration earlier this month, while Trump has reportedly been furious. “What the fuck is going on?” he was heard saying about the app’s failure last month, according to The Daily Beast.<\/p>\n
Trump spent a portion of his rally in Ohio on Saturday squinting into a teleprompter as he awkwardly promoted the app.<\/p>\n
Right Side Broadcasting Network neglected to include the part of the speech when Trump appeared to have no idea what the app is called.<\/p>\n
Trump has yet to post on Truth Social.<\/p>\n