Trump aides say Twitter ban has helped former president clean up his image

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A year after Donald Trump was banned from Twitter and Facebook, his aides have admitted that being unable to ramble on social media has helped with the former US president’s popularity.

While his aggressive rantings on social media helped galvanise supporters, it also provided fodder to the opposition. During his time in office, many of the former president’s supporters wished that he wouldn’t broadcast every grievance, the Wall Street Journal reported.

“I don’t know a single person in Trump world who regrets that this has happened—not a single one,” an adviser to Mr Trump was quoted as saying.

According to Zignal Labs, a company that analyses social media content, since his ban, Mr Trump is no longer a key topic of discussion on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, with his mentions plummeting 88 per cent.

Mr Trump, who had about 88 million followers on Twitter, was banned from the social media platform on 8 January for his alleged involvement in the insurrection at the Capitol. Subsequently in June, Facebook banned him for two years.

The improvement in public opinion could be helpful if Mr Trump decides to run for office again in 2024.

The report cited a FiveThirtyEight.com average of national polls, which suggested that a year after the Capitol riots, roughly 52 per cent of Americans said they had an unfavourable view of Mr Trump compared to 43 per cent who viewed him favourably. However, the nine-point gap is a reduction from a nearly 20-point spread in Mr Trump's favourability rating a year earlier.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s Twitter-like social media app Truth Social will be launched on 21 February, according to an Apple App Store listing. The Republican leader has been advertising his platform as a “free-speech” initiative to take on tech giants.

TRUTH Social, the Trump Media & Technology Group alternative to Twitter, offers features to follow other people and trending topics. Messages on the app, the equivalent of a tweet, will be dubbed “truths”.