Theoretically, Donald Trump can be up to mischief again on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook – but it’s still quiet there.Image: AP / Jacquelyn Martin
politics
The ex-president is campaigning again – initially on a small scale.
Philipp Löpfe / watson.ch
When rock stars perform in small clubs with mini amplifier systems instead of in huge arenas with an enormous amount of material, then that’s called “unplugged”. Donald Trump is currently trying his hand at the political version of this event. Instead of tens of thousands at a rally fans to make people happy, he performed in an intimate setting in front of a few hundred spectators last weekend.
Trump announced his candidacy for the presidency months ago. But as a result of the miserable performance of the Grand Old party (GOP) at the midterm elections, this announcement was met with muted cheers. Then, to everyone’s astonishment, the ex-president disappeared for weeks, or rather, on the golf course. Trump only kept his fans up to date with posts sent at irregular intervals on his Twitter competition Truth Social.
Donald Trump with Lindsey Graham during his performance in South Carolina.Image: AP / Meg Kinnard
The two appearances at the weekend can therefore be seen as something like the start of Trump’s marathon back to the White House. They took place in the states of New Hampshire and South Carolina. In terms of content, there is nothing new to report from the Trump front. The ex-president rattled off his well-known hits and scolded fake news and windmills and once again lamented that victory had been stolen from him in 2020.
The volume may have been muted in the club atmosphere, the content of the speech well known. Trump’s attitude, on the other hand, was new. He seems to have overcome his mini-depression and is fighting like he was in May. “I’m more angry and determined than ever,” he said.
Like his fans, Trump has continued to radicalize himself. In the meantime, he no longer has any reservations about QAnon and even lets the unofficial anthem of the conspiracy movement appear in his speeches. “It has become even more extreme,” Jared Holt of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue told the New York Times. “Nobody should imagine that this will change if they start again Facebook and Twitter can be active. And when it comes to spreading conspiracy theories, no one can beat Trump.”
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Why Trump isn’t tweeting yet
The fact that the ex-president has been re-registered on the two social platforms raises legitimate fears. All you have to do is look at the numbers. On Truth Social, Trump has a mere 4.8 million followers, almost all of them hardcore fans who are hanging on his every word anyway. His posts published there therefore ensure at best jokes at the late night comedians.
On the other hand, Trump has 88 million followers on Twitter, 34 million on Facebook and Instagram 23 million. Twitter posts have therefore regularly made headlines in the mainstream media in the past, and nowhere does the ex-president get more value for the campaign dollars he spends than on Facebook.
So why isn’t Trump already tweeting like he was in his prime, preferably while sitting on the toilet? He would not only deal the deathblow to his platform Truth Social. There are also legal reasons that prevent him from doing so. He has committed to being exclusive to Truth Social by next June. However, it is reasonable to assume that Trump will return to Twitter and Facebook after this deadline.
If he wants to go back to the White House, Trump needs all the support he can get. Because it’s not even certain that he will win the candidacy within the GOP. Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, has received a great boost from Republicans and is ahead of Trump in several polls, sometimes significantly.
Bill Palatucci, a longtime GOP executive, told The Wall Street Journal: “Trump’s influence is waning. It’s not yet clear if he’s waning fast enough, though.” To be fair, it should not be concealed that there are also polls in which Trump is ahead by a nose.
Making life difficult for Trump: Ron DeSantis.Image: AP / Marta Lavandier
So far, DeSantis has refrained from publicly announcing his ambitions for the presidency. But there are increasing signs that he will soon do so. He is already sending his advisors to the states of New Hampshire and Iowa to explore the sensitivities of Republican voters there. The first primaries are taking place in these two states, an important milestone.
Not only DeSantis are said to have ambitions for the White House. The GOP has no shortage of potential candidates. With former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, ex-Vice Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, there are three members of the Trump cabinet.
A number of current and former governors are also cited. They are Larry Hogan (Maryland), Asa Hutchinson (Arkansas), Kristi Noem (South Dakota), Chris Sununu (New Hampshire) and Glenn Youngkin (Virginia). Because no one wants to be the first to feel Trump’s anger, no one has announced their candidacy yet. But by early summer at the latest, any candidates will have to drop their cover.
By then at the latest, Trump will also swap his unplugged phase for the well-known MAGA rallies. In any case, he has already announced this.
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