Trump-Truth: Truths That Are Lies

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.