Trump-Truth: Truths That Are Lies

Published in El Pais
(Spain) on 1 November 2021
by Eva Borreguero (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Marta Quirós Alarcón. Edited by Elizabeth Cosgriff.
The danger of his new social media platform lies in Trump’s capacity to inflame and mobilize his hooligans, who will now have their own space, free of any oversight mechanism.

Barely a year after his defeat at the polls, Donald Trump strikes back, with his eye on the 2022 midterm elections. And he has done this in his preferred arena — the social networks from which he was banned — with the creation of a new online platform that reflects his personality traits: Truth Social, meaning Social Truth. In Truth Social, tweets are called “truths” and they can be retweeted as “retruths.” The label, which — due to the auditory similarity of the words Trump-Truth — is a play on the personification of the “truth” in Trump, appeals to indisputable certainties, absolute dichotomies and truths versus lies, as dispensed by Trump in the capacity of high priest. It echoes the imposed truth embodied by the Russian Pravda, which also means “truth” in Russian. Tweet/Tweeter/Twittering messiahship in order to spread confusion.

The new social network, which announces its fight against the tyranny of the big tech companies in Silicon Valley and its defense of non-discriminatory freedom of speech, advises its users to avoid typing whole words in capital letters — the written sound of shouting — which is a distinctive prerogative of Trump-Truth. Any text that will “disparage, tarnish, or otherwise harm, in our opinion, us and/or the Site" will be censored. It has the monopoly on deceit. In the face of such a contradiction, it is certain that this truth will in fact be a lie — a foundational lie that asserts itself on the great trickery of last year’s alleged election fraud.

Its programming will include non-woke content. If the excesses of cancel culture — the inquisitorial persecution of controversial characters — delves into political correctness, Trump’s oafish outbursts fertilize the field of political eschatology. He will hardly be neutralized in his own social network. On the contrary, it will be a safe haven for those who wish to argue with the woke current, increasing the level of polarization.

Analysts from different media have singled out the reasons for Truth Social’s potential failure: The former leader already attempted it in the past, unsuccessfully, and he has lost credibility. Undoubtedly, the new platform will be no rival to Facebook or Twitter. But Trump’s audience is not the general public, but his own circle, which aims to expand and become more aggressive.

The danger here lies in Trump’s capacity to inflame and mobilize his hooligans, who from now on will have their own space free of any oversight mechanism that would act as a firewall against his incendiary urges. At this point, the value of the investing company has multiplied by a factor of 10 in the stock market, indicating that Trump is on the rise. Therefore, experience suggests that the former president should not be underestimated, as in the 2016 election, when the polls predicted Hillary Clinton’s victory. Moreover, he is the highest rated candidate in the Republican Party ahead of the 2024 presidential election. Truth Social will manage to become a vehicle for anti-democratic toxicity.


Trump-Truth: verdad que es mentira

El peligro de su nueva red social reside en la habilidad de Trump para enardecer y movilizar a sus ultras, que contarán con espacio propio liberado de todo mecanismo de control

Escasamente a un año de ser derrotado en las urnas, Donald Trump contraataca con la mirada puesta en las elecciones legislativas de 2022. Y lo ha hecho en su arena predilecta, las redes sociales de las que fue expulsado, con la creación de una plataforma digital que refleja de los rasgos de su personalidad: Truth Social (sic), esto es Verdad social. En Truth los tuits se llamarán “verdad” y podrán retuitearse como “re-verdades”. La etiqueta, que por semejanza sonora de las palabras —Trump-Truth— juega con la personificación de la “verdad” en Trump, apela a certezas incuestionables, dicotomías absolutas y verdades versus mentiras, dispensadas por Trump en calidad de sumo sacerdote. Un eco de la imposición de la mentira que encarnó el soviético Pravda, en ruso también Verdad. Mesianismo tuitero para generalizar la confusión.

La nueva red social, que anuncia combatir la tiranía de las grandes tecnológicas de Silicon Valley y defender la libertad de expresión sin discriminación, recomienda a los usuarios evitar en los textos palabras completas en letras mayúsculas —el sonido escrito de los gritos—, prerrogativa distintiva de Trump-Truth. Será censurado cualquier escrito que “según nuestra opinión, desacredite, empañe o de algún modo perjudique a la web o a nosotros”. Es el monopolio del engaño. Ante tal contrasentido, tendremos por seguro que esta truth en verdad sea mentira. Una mentira fundacional que se afirme sobre la gran fullería del supuesto fraude electoral del pasado año.

La programación incluirá contenidos antiwoke. Si los excesos de la cultura de la cancelación, la persecución inquisitorial de personajes controvertidos, ahondan en lo “políticamente correcto”, los zafios exabruptos de Trump abonan el campo de lo “políticamente escatológico”. Difícilmente podrán neutralizarlo en su red social, al contrario, en ella encontrarán refugio quienes deseen polemizar con la corriente woke, incrementando el nivel de polarización.

Analistas de diversos medios han desgranado las razones de un posible fracaso de Truth: el antiguo mandatario lo intentó sin éxito con anterioridad y estaría desprestigiado. Sin duda la nueva plataforma no podrá rivalizar con Facebook o Twitter, pero el destinatario de Trump no es la opinión pública general, sino el círculo de los suyos que aspira a ampliarse y adquirir mayor agresividad.

El peligro reside aquí en la habilidad de Trump para enardecer y movilizar a sus ultras, los cuales, a partir de ahora contarán con espacio propio liberado de todo mecanismo de control que actúe como cortafuegos frente a sus impulsos incendiarios. De momento, el valor de la empresa inversora se ha multiplicado en la bolsa por 10, un indicador de que Trump cotiza al alza. Por ello la experiencia aconseja no menospreciar al expresidente, como ocurrió en las elecciones de 2016, cuando las encuestas pronosticaban una victoria de Hillary Clinton. Más aún al ser el candidato mejor valorado del Partido Republicano de cara a las elecciones presidenciales del 2024. Truth podrá ser un eficaz medio de intoxicación antidemocrática.
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