Trump's tiny Truth Social acts as launching pad for huge army of MAGA influencers: study
Donald Trump's posts on his little-trafficked Truth Social website are seen by far fewer users than his once-mighty Twitter account — but a massive network of allies is spreading his message far and wide, a Washington Post analysis found.
The former president's Twitter account once had 90 million followers before he was banned following the Jan. 6 insurrection. Truth Social, however, had just 5.5 million visitors in March, compared to more than 1 billion for X and 3 billion for Facebook.
But a vast network of MAGA influencers is making up for its minuscule size by amplifying his messages into the broader conservative ecosystem, according to the Post analysis.
"The Post analyzed 14,101 of Trump’s posts from the day he announced his presidential campaign on Nov. 15, 2022, through March 15, 2024, including 7,716 original text posts as well as reposts and image-only posts," the newspaper reported. "He posted to Truth Social, where he now has 6.96 million followers, an average of 29 times a day over that period."
Those messages were then circulated by hugely popular Twitter and Facebook accounts, podcasts and cable news programs, which all adopt his framing and often his phrasing about his criminal indictments, political positions and election conspiracy theories.
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“[By] recirculating golden nuggets from Trump, influencers provide the bonding of this media ecosystem,” said Yochai Benkler, a Harvard Law School professor who studies propaganda. “The more outrageous and trolling of the libs it is, the more attractive it is for those who want to make money and get credibility inside the political community for being a true believer.”
Trump has posted only once — his Georgia mugshot — on X since his reinstatement by its owner Elon Musk, as he tries to maintain financial value in his own Truth Social site. But his minions smuggle his messaging far beyond its limited reach in a phenomenon that stuns seasoned observers, the Post found.
"[It's a] steroidal version of political messaging,” said Chris Stirewalt, politics editor at NewsNation and a former political editor at Fox News. “Trump says or does something egregious and the people who are currying favor with him say, ‘Well, let’s workshop this,’ and they share his message on their own account, but add their own twist.”