This has caused major controversy.
On Thursday (June 16), in a shock announcement, California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom revealed he had joined former President Donald Trump’s social media platform “Truth Social,” stating that he planned to use the platform to debunk “Republican lies.”
Announcing on Twitter, Newsom tweeted: “I just joined Trump’s Truth Social. Going to be on there calling out Republican lies. This could get… interesting.”
Newsom then linked to what he posted on Truth Social, revealing what his first post was: “My first post — breaking down America’s red-state murder problem.”
In a video elaborating on the context of his tweet, Newsom informed his followers that red states were the states with the highest murder rates,
The data Newsom is using in his video likely comes from a report released by center-left think take Third Way. The report alleged that “8 of the 10 states with the highest murder rates in 2020 voted for the Republican presidential nominee in every election this century.”
Newsom’s unlikely decision could come as a boon to Trump’s struggling social network — estimated to have 513 million members — as the move may result in prominent Democratic figures joining Truth Social.
Trump started Truth Social following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot that led to his account being permanently banned on Twitter.
It wasn’t only the platform’s origins that were controversial; instead, during the first weeks of the platform’s launch, Truth Social was embroiled in a bit of controversy over its excessively long waiting lists and the very little activity on the platform.
But, the platform has been getting plenty of media coverage recently as many of Trump’s statements regarding the Jan. 6 public hearing have been released first on Truth Social.
