Donald Trump Says He Won't Return To Twitter Even With Elon Musk As Owner
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Former President Donald Trump told Fox News Monday that he doesn’t plan to return to Twitter even though multibillionaire Elon Musk is buying the company for $44 billion.
He plans to stick with his own problem-plagued social media company Truth Social, which he has used once before its launch in February when he messaged: “Get ready! Your favorite president will see you soon.”
“I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on Truth,” he told Fox News. Trump added that he believes Musk will likely “make improvements” to Twitter and called him a “good man, but I am going to be staying on Truth.”
Musk is expected to take an anything-goes approach to his new company, and observers believe he’d allow Trump back on Twitter. The former president was permanently banned by Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat for his role in inciting last year’s violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Trump posts all of his statements on the Twitter account of his aide Liz Harrington. He even announced the creation of Truth Social on Harrington’s Twitter account. But he insisted to Fox that he’ll be stepping up his use of Truth Social later this week — just in time to compete with Musk.
“We’re taking in millions of people, and what we’re finding is that the response on Truth is much better than being on Twitter,” Trump boasted without offering any data. “Twitter has bots and fake accounts, and we are doing everything we can.”
He added: “The bottom line is, no, I am not going back to Twitter.”
“We want liberty and justice and fairness in our country, and the more we can have open, the better,” Trump continued. “I don’t view that [Musk’s Twitter] as a competition for what I am doing.”
Trump characterized his social media company as a “platform for my voice. Truth is a platform for my voice and for my supporters.”
But then he contradicted himself, saying he wants “everybody to come over to Truth — conservatives, liberals, whatever. ” He didn’t mention the “radical leftist maniacs” he attacked at his Ohio political rally on Saturday.
Musk’s Twitter operation is widely viewed as bad news for Truth Social since the Tesla CEO is expected to allow many of the same extremist voices being courted by Trump’s operation. Truth Social stock prices were reportedly down 13% by late Monday afternoon.
Musk tweeted Monday that he wants even his staunchest critics to stick with Twitter.
I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
