Trump's 'Truth Social' suffers a chaotic rollout as Devin Nunes vows to get bugs fixed by late March
On Monday, The Daily Beast reported that former Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), now heading up former President Donald Trump's just-launched Twitter competitor "Truth Social" is saying he hopes to have all of the problems in the service fixed by late March.
"On Sunday, Devin Nunes, the former Republican congressman-turned-CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group, said that he hopes the new app will be fully operational by the end of March," reported Jamie Ross and Zachary Petrizzo. Nunes, a longtime ally of Trump who opposed serious inquiry into allegations of his administration's misconduct while chairing the House Intelligence Committee, resigned early from his term in office to take the helm of Trump's venture.
"Truth Social, the Trump-created Twitter alternative, went live in Apple’s App Store on Sunday night, and would-be users immediately ran into glitches and error messages," said the report. "Around 11 p.m. ET, select users who tried to create accounts were repeatedly met with a red error warning: 'Something went wrong. Please try again.' Shortly thereafter, around midnight, others were told that the app was simply too popular for them to join it, with a warning that read: 'Due to massive demand, we have placed you on our waitlist.'"
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Trump's venture was financed by a so-called special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, also known as a "blank check" company. The arrangement has drawn controversy for its lack of transparency, with one initial investor suing for fraud.
Truth Social is one of many "alternative" social media sites meant to cater to conservatives. Competitors include Gab, which has become infamous as a haven for neo-Nazis; Parler, which was heavily used to stream the January 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol; and GETTR, a platform founded by former Trump aide Jason Miller with the reported backing of a wealthy Chinese financier.