Opinion: Donald Trump cant handle the truth – Austin American-Statesman

Bill McCann| Special to the Advertiser

Have you heard about TRUTH Social? No, it isnt a dating app for singles seeking an honest relationship. Its former President Donald Trumps newly announced venture to compete with social media giants like Twitter and Facebook. He hopes for a test launch this month and full rollout in 2022.

An angry Trump apparently cooked up the idea for his own social media network after being kicked off Twitter and Facebook following an insurrection by Trump supporters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Trump helped instigate the insurrection by spreading election-fraud lies.

In an announcement on Oct. 20, Trump said his social network would stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech. The problem is to borrow a line from Jack Nicholsons character in the movie "A Few Good Men" Trump cant handle the truth. Trump used Twitter as a major megaphone of misinformation throughout his presidency. During Trumps four years in office, he made 30,573 false or misleading claims, according to Washington Post fact checkers.

Aside from the fact that the words truth and Trump dont belong in the same sentence, Trumps history of failed businesses does not bode well for his new venture. His companies have filed for bankruptcy six times. Plus, he has had a lengthy list of failures, including Trump Airlines, Trump Steaksand Trump Mortgage. Who would fly in a plane, buy meat or borrow money from this guy? And dont forget Trump University, his real estate training school that paid a $25 million settlement to duped students.

While TRUTH Social states it encourages an open, free, and honest global conversation without discriminating against political ideology, its terms of service prohibit users from using the platform to disparage, tarnish, or otherwise harm, in our opinion, us and/or the Site, National Public Radio reported. In other words, you can say any crazy thing you want as long as you dont diss Trump. Its the kind of free speech that only Trumpublicans could love.

One ominous sign for Trumps new social network occurred last spring when he yanked a blog called From the Desk of Donald J. Trump after only a month due to low readership. But some critics think that even if TRUTH Social doesnt resonate with social media users, he might enrich himself anyway. And thats always Trumps priority.

TRUTH Social will be the first product of a new company called Trump Media & Technology Group, which is merging with a special-purpose acquisition firm to form a publicly traded company. Critics suggest that if Trump can convince enough of his supporters to buy stock, he could end up with a pile of money.

In any event, Trump needs to find a better name for his new network. TRUTH Social is dull. It doesnt say what its really about. I asked a friend for ideas. Heres what we came up with to make it more appealing and accurate.

McCann is a contributing columnist for the Advertiser. He is a retired journalist and may be reached at Easywriter12345@yahoo.com.

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Opinion: Donald Trump cant handle the truth - Austin American-Statesman