Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, Twitter
Simon Fearn
Two months after launching his rival social networking app TRUTH Social, former US President Donald Trump has posted on the site for the first time.
For a man once known for his frequent and often incomprehensible tweets, the extended silence is uncharacteristic. Trump announced his arrival by referencing an infamous Twitter cockup from 2017.
This comes after TRUTH Social experienced a rocky launch, with Reuters reporting that many users were stuck on a waiting list for several weeks after its launch. The app is also currently unavailable for Android phones.
However, in the wake of Musk finalising a deal to purchase Twitter, TRUTH Social shot to number one on the Apple app store, with Musk tweeting: “TRUTH Social is currently beating Twitter & TikTok on the Apple Store.
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“TRUTH Social (terrible name) exists because Twitter censored free speech.”
Now, in what must be the icing on the cake for many TRUTH Social users, Trump has finally broken his silence on the app.
He posted a picture of himself on the phone at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, with the caption: “I’M BACK! #COVFEFE.”
If you’ll cast your mind back to 2017, when Trump was still POTUS, you’ll remember a cryptic tweet from 31 May, posted at 12.06am, which read: “Despite the constant negative press covfefe.”
The tweet stayed up for several hours, prompting furious speculation as to what exactly covfefe was, why Trump had left the tweet up for several hours with the obvious typo, and if the president had somehow fallen asleep mid-tweet.
Six hours later, the tweet was finally deleted, with Trump posting: “Who can figure out the true meaning of ‘covfefe’ ??? Enjoy!”
Even more bizarre, Trump’s team appeared to double down by suggesting ‘covfefe’ was in fact a meaningful word for those in the know.
Sean Spicer, his press secretary at the time, told reporters: “I think the President and a small group of people knew exactly what he meant.”
The bizarre post ended up lending its name a mooted bill, the COVFEFE Act, which stands for Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement if you’re interested.
The proposed legislation, introduced by Democrat Mike Quigley in 2017, would have ensured extra documentation and preservation of Presidential tweets.
Quigley said at the time: “If the President is going to take to social media to make sudden public policy proclamations, we must ensure that these statements are documented and preserved for future reference.”
The bill, however, never received a vote in Congress.
Trump referencing his viral blunder is a rare occasion in which the former POTUS has poked fun at himself, but it’s doubtful this is the tone he’ll continue to strike with his posts on TRUTH.
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