Donald Trump is not a stupid guy. He must realize that as an elected official he is old news. Not as a political force, but as an elected official. No matter how bad Biden is Trump still alienates around 50 percent of the voting public including about 30 percent and rising of the GOP. Those Republicans don’t hate him. In fact many, including me, think his administration was a triumph. But now, as it concerns the presidency, some of us just want him to go away.
He may have begun doing just that by effecting a transition from politician to social media mogul. He’s starting his own social media platform. Think of it as a populist Twitter. Trump not only stands to make lots of cash but through social media he can control the national dialogue and Republican message much better than he can as a has been politician.
Why will Trump excel at this? Because first and foremost he is a showman. He loves his audience and they love him back. He understands images, emotionalism, and demagoguery to such a point it puts him in the vanguard of modern agitprop.
Trump is a current day Lonesome Rhodes, a troubadour of the common folk, a purveyor of downhome wisdom, a tin messiah who attracts the emotionally needy and the intellectually dispossessed. That’s why the new platform, “Truth Social” will be a hit. It will know how to push the right buttons to make its fans howl, jump, and froth. I personally won’t join the platform, as it’s likely to be filled with the fulminations of circular onanists. Not my idea of a good time.
Said the former president on Wednesday, “I created TRUTH Social and TMTG (Trump Media and Technology Group) to stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech. We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced. This is unacceptable…I am excited to send out my first TRUTH on TRUTH Social very soon…TMTG was founded with a mission to give a voice to all. I’m excited to soon begin sharing my thoughts on TRUTH Social and to fight back against Big Tech. Everyone asks me why doesn’t someone stand up to Big Tech? Well, we will be soon!”
It’s an interesting statement. He calls his platform “Truth” as the Soviets called their party organ “Pravda”, the Russian word for truth. Methinks that Trump branding may be a bit of leading the heartland horses to water. There, he knows they are likely to quaff gallons. And he refers to himself as “your favorite president”. One never knows if Trump is writing tongue in cheek or has started to believe his own press releases. I think it’s the latter. If it’s the former, the joke is no longer funny.
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