Trump Social Media Firm Partners With Anti-Vax And QAnon-Friendly Video Hub

CLEVELAND, OHIO - SEPTEMBER 29: U.S. President Donald Trump participates in the first presidential debate against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden at the Health Education Campus of Case Western Reserve Univ... CLEVELAND, OHIO - SEPTEMBER 29: U.S. President Donald Trump participates in the first presidential debate against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden at the Health Education Campus of Case Western Reserve University on September 29, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio. This is the first of three planned debates between the two candidates in the lead up to the election on November 3. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Trump’s social network has a new partner, and it’s exactly what you’d expect.

TRUTH Social is linking up with an online video provider that is known for hosting content that won’t make it past YouTube’s moderation policy. It’s called Rumble, and it’s become a favorite of a range of fringe characters, including QAnon supporters, far-right extremists, and anti-vaxxers.

It also already hosts videos from a number of Trump world figures, including Donald Trump Jr.

Like other right-wing tech firms, Rumble brands itself as a bastion against “cancel culture.”

In practice, it hosts a wide-ranging array of content. The company pays former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) to “challenge the status quo,” for example.

The companies said this week that Trump Media & Technology Group — which controls TRUTH Social — will receive cloud computing services from Rumble, and that Rumble will provide video and streaming for TRUTH, along with an unspecified, planned “Subscription Video On-Demand Product” called TMTG+.

Trump may not be president anymore, but there are still endless opportunities for content.

The financing deal that spawned TRUTH Social has come under SEC scrutiny in recent months, as regulators investigate whether Trump spoke about his company receiving funding from a blank check acquisition company before that firm went public — a potential violation of financial regulations.

TRUTH Social encountered trouble upon its initial October 2021 announcement to the public. The company used code that was developed by an open-source social network called Mastodon, without complying with the terms of that company’s license.

TRUTH Social appears to have fixed the license issue after receiving a letter from Mastodon’s attorneys.

A beta version of the network was initially planned to be up and available by November.

It’s not clear whether the company made that deadline, but Trump said in a statement announcing the Rumble deal that the site was now working on the “Rumble Cloud for invited guests only.”

Who precisely made it past the velvet rope and into TRUTH remains unclear. Trump characteristically described the beta launch as “excellent.”

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Anyone even remotely surprised by this?

    Scum always tends to congeal.

  2. He really is stoking the crazy. Problem is a lot of those crazy are armed to the teeth

  3. All 50 subscribers? Yeah, that’ll help…

  4. Trump Media & Technology Group

    It’s like a casino, except you can never win.

  5. Trump may not be president anymore, but there are still endless opportunities for content.

    The content

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

399 more replies

Participants

Avatar for austin_dave Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for clemmers Avatar for teenlaqueefa Avatar for becca656 Avatar for irasdad Avatar for callmeeric Avatar for sniffit Avatar for chelsea530 Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for leftcoaster Avatar for moreyampersand Avatar for fiftygigs Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for tena Avatar for jinnj Avatar for castor_troy Avatar for maximus Avatar for occamscoin Avatar for zenicetus Avatar for garrybee Avatar for emiliano4 Avatar for IBecameACitizenforthis Avatar for ClutchCargo

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: