Truth Social has become an integral part of former President Trump’s ability to communicate with his supporters, and even though not everyone is on his own social media platform, the media keeps up coverage of his steady drumbeat of missives. The Hill’s Amie Parnes and Brett Samuels write that Trump’s posts almost always translate to earned media and put his rivals on their heels.
Questions remain about whether the former president’s own platform can compete with the same kind of megaphone he enjoyed on Twitter before the social media site banned him from posting. Truth Social, which recently went public, defied expectations in its first week on the stock market. Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group rose as high as $79.38 in their first week on the market before settling near $62 Thursday, the last day of trading before Easter. The company’s market capitalization was roughly $8.4 billion as of Thursday, according to CNBC data. But the mismatch between Trump Media’s soaring stock value and the reality of its financials places it firmly in the “meme stock” category, experts told The Hill’s Julia Shapero.
AT THE SAME TIME, Democrats see Trump’s off-the-cuff posts — which can be riddled with untruths and spelling mistakes — as helpful to their cause.
“In a lot of ways, he shoots himself in the foot,” acknowledged one Republican strategist, who supports Trump. “He hasn’t learned that sometimes silence is the best response. But that’s not his style. He wants everyone to know he’s right, the media covers it and [the Trump campaign] see that as translating to votes.”
TRUMP TOOK TO SOCIAL MEDIA over the weekend to rail against Biden, who posted messages for both Easter Sunday, whose date changes annually, and Transgender Day of Visibility, which falls on March 31 each year. The attacks come on the heels of Trump announcing that he was selling $60 Bibles, which attracted criticism from Democrats and some religious leaders — including Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), who is an ordained pastor.
In a Saturday statement, Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt claimed that declaring Transgender Day of Visibility on Easter Sunday was “blasphemous.”
A spokesperson for the president rejected the attacks from Trump and other Republicans, saying Biden, who is a practicing Catholic, “stands for bringing people together and upholding the dignity and freedoms of every American. Sadly, it’s unsurprising politicians are seeking to divide and weaken our country with cruel, hateful, and dishonest rhetoric” (The Washington Post and ABC News).
