When Twitter banned Donald Trump for inciting a violent insurrection, the former president had two choices. The first was to accept that he no longer had a platform through which to terrorize the human race with every thought that came into his head and move on. The second was to throw a conniption fit over his First Amendment rights having supposedly been violated, and to use the opportunity to engage in some typical grifter-y behavior, such as launching a Twitter competitor through a shell company and making money off of his supporters. Obviously, Trump chose the latter, and while the money-making aspect seems to have worked out well for him thus far, the actual social media network is on track to be a bigger flop than Trump Steaks, Trump Vodka, and the Trump Taj Mahal combined. And despite famously having a very loose grasp on reality, he apparently knows it!
The Daily Beast reports that when he’s not praising Vladimir Putin or coming up with ways to start a war between Russia and China, Trump has been incessantly whining about what an embarrassing flop Truth Social has turned out to be. Sources tell The Daily Beast they’ve heard the ex-president “swearing gratuitously” about the app on the phone and asking “What the fuck is going on” with the social network. Trump has regularly complained about the bad press and “less-than-stellar optics” the rollout has received, and demanded to know why it hasn’t immediately become a runaway success, according to reporters Adam Rawnsley and Asawin Suebsaeng.
Of course, that probably has something to do with the platform itself being an unmitigated disaster. On the day it launched, would-be users were reportedly hit with numerous glitches and outrageously long wait times, with some being forwarded to an “access denied” error page. A reporter from Business Insider had to try the initial email-confirmation process five times before being able to create an account. Of the users who were actually able to create accounts, many were told they’d been placed on a wait list of what appeared to be more than 100,000 people. The app went partially dark for more than 12 hours due to “application launch traffic.“ Its logo is reportedly almost identical to that of another company that existed long before Truth Social hit the scene.
And according to the Daily Beast:
Probably not helping things is that Trump, who has the attention span of a gnat, has not posted to the app since it launched, despite having once sent 200 tweets and retweets in a single day. On the other hand, the share price of the company backing Truth Social is up roughly 60% year-to-date, and it’s currently worth about $82.09 after going public at $10. So even though the actual social media company is thus far a cringeworthy joke, it still appears to be lining the ex-president’s pockets. Which he probably doesn’t have a problem with.
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Why are we so concerned about Trump becoming president again, anyway?
Oh, just the usual 982,576 reasons, plus a new one he gave us over the weekend, which is that if he were in office right now, he’d be trying to start a war between China and Russia. In case you missed that great idea:
Beyond the sheer insanity of this proposal, experts told the Post that it would likely be illegal. “Using the flag of a neutral state or any other state that is not a party to the conflict is prohibited,” said Emory University law school professor Laurie R. Blank. “This idea would bring the U.S. into the conflict (because it would be actually engaging in military operations against Russia) and be in violation of the rule prohibiting the use of the flags, emblems, or insignia of neutral states or states not party to the conflict. It would escalate the conflict dramatically, and the rules on neutrality and neutral states are designed to prevent exactly that.”
Meanwhile, in Florida
The state has boldly made a name for itself as the first one in the country to officially come out as anti-vax when it comes to kids. Per WFLA:
While the CDC has said everyone over five should get vaccinated against COVID-19, Florida’s stance shouldn’t come as a surprise. As a nominee, Dr. Ladapo wouldn’t say if he was vaccinated, and he refused to say if the COVID vaccines were effective during his confirmation hearing. Also DeSantis proudly made a scene last week re: high school students wearing masks, a stunt that no doubt scored him points with the anti-everything crowd.
In other DeSantis news…
The Florida governor would rather attack reporters than answer questions about the fact that his state legislature has passed a bill banning classroom conversations about gender identity and sexual orientation in grades K–3 “or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards,” i.e., beyond those grades.
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Psychologist to NYT: Ukrainian anger toward Russia is normal, but make sure to use that anger productively
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Elsewhere!
Death toll surpasses 6 million for the pandemic now in its third year (NPR)
No breakthrough in talks between Russia and Ukraine on ending Moscow’s assault (The Washington Post)
Thousands Arrested in Russia as Protesters Defy Putin’s Latest Crackdown on Free Speech (V.F.)
Ukrainian Refugees Say Goodbye to Home and Family Members (The Atlantic)
John Oliver Calls Putin a “Total Fucking Dickhead” (V.F.)
Top Democrats, Republicans say they have reached deal to ban Russian energy imports as U.S. stock markets sell off sharply (The Washington Post)
Marjorie Taylor Greene sparks anger by calling veteran Vindman “clueless” and a “clown” in Ukraine row (The Independent)
Supreme Court denies GOP challenges to congressional maps in North Carolina and Pennsylvania (CNN)
Meet Jho Low, the fugitive 1MDB financier known as “the Asian Great Gatsby” who paid Leonardo DiCaprio to be his friend (Fortune)
Do Republicans Know What Communism Is? (Intelligencer)
Box of human heads stolen from Denver truck (UPI)
— Images of Russia’s Attack on Ukraine
—Trump Calls Putin’s Ukraine Moves “Genius” Because He Hates Democracy
— The Zucker-Cuomo Saga Just Got Even Messier
— Why Biden Wanted Americans to Know Exactly What Putin Was Planning
— It’s Been a Hell of a Week for Letitia James
— “If Ukraine Matters, Tell Us Why”: Joe Biden Is Talking to Everyone Except the American People
— Republicans on Russia Crisis: It’s Biden’s Fault
— Thieves in the Night: A Vast Burglary Ring From Chile Has Been Targeting Wealthy U.S. Households
— Watergate’s Central Mystery: Why Did Nixon’s Team Order the Break-In in the First Place?
— From the Archive: Russia’s Dark Master
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