Former Republican President Donald Trump is reportedly "fuming" over the failure of Truth Social, the social media platform his team launched after he was booted from Twitter for peddling disinformation that incited an insurrection at the United States Capitol Building.
Truth Social's sluggish rollout angered Trump, according to a Washington Post report. A source who spoke to the publication said Trump is now considering joining Gettr, a Truth Social competitor that prides itself on its commitment to "the principles of free speech."
Trump apparently does not believe Truth Social is "ready for prime time," the source said and Devin Nunes—the former California Republican Representative who left office to run the app—has thus far failed to assuage Trump's concerns and remained largely silent despite questions from reporters.
Adding to Truth Social's woes is the fact two top executives, Josh Adams, Truth Social's chief technology officer, and Billy Boozer, head of product development, recently quit, both after less than a year on the job. Adams was described as the "brains" behind the app's operation and his departure could spell trouble for its future.
For many, news of Truth Social's troubles offers further evidence it and Trump, who has crashed and burned his way through a variety of business ventures, were doomed to fail.
Truth Social has been plagued by problems since its launch.
The app promises "open, free, and honest global conversation without discriminating against political ideology." It is part of the new Trump Media Technology Group (TMTG).
Trump was widely mocked after news outlets reported that Truth Social's terms of service include a clause stating that users may not "disparage, tarnish, or otherwise harm, in our opinion, us and/or the Site." The platform was hacked within hours of going live.
Since then, users have complained about glitches and errors that haven't allowed them to sign up and put them in a queue behind hundreds of thousands of others. Downloads have dropped to 60,000 per week in Apple's App Store, down from 872,000 downloads the week the app launched.
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