You would think that after all of the Tump lies and hoaxes coming down the pike over the past 5+ years, people wouldn’t run with stories that are too good to be true – or too stupid, ridiculous or idiotic to be true.
But when it comes to Trump, both the right and the left clicks on the “share” and “retweet’ button a little faster than they should.
Over the weekend, a lot of people fell for the fake statement from Trump that said, “Congratulations to Elon Musk on his purchase of Twitter. Many people are saying that change was needed, as the old management was too concerned with the woke agenda. I have been told my account will be back up and running on Monday – we will see. Happy to be able to engage with an African-American owned business!”
Even MSNBC [1] fell for it with Alex Wagner saying right after the Musk purchase of Twitter, “…side note, just a moment ago, Trump himself issued a statement congratulation Elon Musk on buying Twitter. He said his account will be back on Monday.”
Conservative author Dinesh D’Souza was duped as well.
The rush of reporting is the culprit. Or at least that’s the current excuse.
But how long does it actually take to check out Trump’s Truth Social account to see if he actually posted the statement? Five minutes, maybe? Do the reporters really need to get the news out in less than four minutes? They can’t take 20 or 30 minutes to do a fact-check?
Trump, for his part, has already said that he would not be returning to Twitter. So even though the left is currently melting down at the possibility of Orange Man Bad’s great return, it’s not inevitable at all.
Trump is a businessman and it seems that going back on Twitter would be counter-productive to the success of his Truth Social company.
He has told CNBC, “No, I won’t be going back on Twitter…I like Elon Musk. I like him a lot. He’s an excellent individual. We did a lot for Twitter when I was in the White House. I was disappointed by the way I was treated by Twitter. I won’t be going back on Twitter.”
Trump reiterated his plans on Friday when he talked to Fox News and said, “I like Elon, but I’m staying on Truth.” He said that when he posts on Truth Social that it “goes all over the place anyway” and “Everyone who is on Twitter and all the other places, they all put it out anyway.”
Musk hasn’t said much about Trump directly. Will he let Trump back on? Will it happen before the election? I’m going to guess yes, he’ll let the Trumpster back on and no, it won’t happen before the midterms.
Musk has tweeted [2], “Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints. No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.”
So it was wishful thinking from the right that he’ll be on Twitter anytime soon – and outright rage and pissy- ness from the left that such an abomination would happen.
However, the left will continue to write about the destruction of the country and democracy if Trump IS allowed back on Twitter because it’s just what they do. Time [3] has a headline that says, “Trump used Twitter to lie and bully. That’s unlikely to change if he returns.”
It’s unlikely that the left will change either. Not even if they are defeated in November.