Former President Donald Trump, permanently banned from Twitter, slammed the social media service in an interview that aired Friday and said he preferred issuing press releases to posting on the platform.
“I’m really getting the big word out because we’re doing releases,” Mr. Trump said to Fox News host Sean Hannity. “And every time I do a release, it’s all over the place. It’s better than Twitter, much more elegant than Twitter. And Twitter now is very boring. A lot of people are leaving Twitter. Twitter is becoming very, very boring.”
Mr. Trump, a prolific Twitter user prior to being punted from the platform, also said during the interview that he considers himself somewhat responsible for the success of the social media service.
“When I started with Twitter years ago, it was like a failed thing, concept, media platform. It was failed. And it became exciting. And I think I had a lot to do with it, to be honest with you. It became very exciting. And now it’s boring and it’s no good anymore,” said Mr. Trump.
Twitter banned Mr. Trump on Jan. 8, two days after the U.S. Capitol building was stormed by his supporters, denying him a digital megaphone that had until then allowed him to instantly reach millions.
Mr. Trump has since resorted to issuing press releases to express his opinions, including several this week alleging voter fraud affected the 2020 presidential election, which he decisively lost.
Mr. Trump added he is still considering the possibility of launching a competing platform of his own.
“I’m looking at it. We’re looking at different platforms. We have a lot of people who want to come on existing platforms. They have to be strong. They can’t be dominated by Amazon and by Google and people that can take them off the air right away,” Mr. Trump said on “Hannity.”
Mr. Trump had joined Twitter in 2009, creating his now-defunct @realDonaldTrump account roughly three years after the platform debuted. He tweeted over 25,000 times during his four years as president.
Twitter declined to comment on the latest criticisms from Mr. Trump. The company said in February that it had around 192 million daily active users at the end of 2020, up 27% from the previous year.
Supporters of Mr. Trump, a Republican, violently breached the Capitol building on Jan. 6 as members of Congress met to count the Electoral College votes affirming Democratic candidate Joseph R. Biden’s win.
Mr. Trump disputed his election loss on Twitter during and after the seize, ultimately leading to the company banning him from its service “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”
Several other platforms, including Facebook and its sister-service Instagram, also suspended Mr. Trump earlier this year. Despite the existence of rival platforms favored by some fellow conservatives, such as Parler and Gab, for example, Mr. Trump has shied away from social media entirely since leaving office and refrained from becoming active on either of those alternatives.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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