Donald Trump has shut down the kind of blogging website he launched in great fanfare less than a month ago as a «beacon of freedom» and «a place to talk freely and safely.»
Jason Miller, a top aide to the former US president, confirmed the shutdown of the online communication tool «From the Desk of Donald J Trump» in a statement to CNBC on Wednesday, just weeks after calling the project a «great resource» for his president’s musings.
Mr Miller offered no explanation for the shutdown, and it remains unclear whether it was a voluntary move or if it was imposed by a third party of some sort, such as the removal of Mr Trump from social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook for inciting the January 6 rebellion. The killer is in the Capitol. .
But in a Twitter response to a Republican activist who asked if the move was «a prelude to him joining another social media platform,» Miller said, «Yeah, actually, it is. Look at this space.»
In his statement to CNBC, Mr. Miller attempted to paint the short-lived project as «adjunct to the broader efforts that we are and are working on».
mouthpiece
Trump’s blog, mouthpiece for his false claims about a rigged 2020 presidential election, failed to gain traction and on May 21 the Washington Post reported that it had attracted an «amazingly small audience.»
Last weekend, the site mysteriously crashed after Mr Trump spread more lies about a «review» of the bizarre elections in Arizona that the former president says provide evidence that Joe Biden’s victory was «stolen,» despite the failure of several lawsuits. That challenges the outcome, and local and national officials declared that last year’s election was the safest in US history.
Meanwhile, without evidence, Trump insisted there were «broken seals on boxes, missing ballot papers, and worse» in Arizona. Shortly after the entry was posted, the website reported a URL processing error, and the blog page went completely dark.
Visitors to donaldjtrump.com on Wednesday only found an archive of Trump’s media statements dating back to January and a link to an online store of merchandise.
Trump and his followers have long criticized social media platforms for their apparent bias against him, and despite the apparent popularity of his posts. When Trump’s Twitter account was permanently suspended, he had nearly 90 million followers.
Ban has not been lifted
Meanwhile, Facebook’s supervisory panel ruled last month that the ban should not be lifted, but left the door open for a «final decision» within six months.
The shutdown of his blog comes as Trump, who is considering another presidential election in 2024, prepares to return to campaign-style rallies for the first time since he incited crowds of supporters to overrun the US Capitol on Jan. 6 in an effort. To stop ratification of Biden’s presidential victory.
On Saturday, he will speak at the North Carolina State Convention of Republicans in Greenville, and plans a series of public events over the summer in other states, including Florida and Ohio. – guardian