Twitter 'desperately' needs Elon Musk: Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes
Former congressman says goal of Truth Social is for people to get their voice back
Former California Congressman Devin Nunes, who now runs Donald Trump's social media app, argues Twitter 'desperately' needs the Tesla founder.
Former California Congressman Devin Nunes, who now runs Donald Trump's app Truth Social, argued on Thursday that Twitter "desperately" needs Elon Musk given the social media company is a "ghost town."
"There is not very much activity over at Twitter right now, especially when you compare it to sites like ours where we are just in our beginning stages as we continue to test and bring people on day by day," Nunes, who is the CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group, told "Mornings with Maria" on Thursday. "Our interactions are already beating Twitter and so Elon has a lot of work to do there."
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On Tuesday, Musk was named to the company's board. Twitter shares rose on Tuesday after soaring 27% during Monday's trading session, rallying on Musk's disclosure of a 9.2% stake in the company, making him Twitter's largest shareholder.
Meantime, the stock price of Digital World Acquisition Corp., the special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that's merging with Trump's social media app firm, has been falling in recent days, although as of Thursday morning, shares were slightly higher.
Stuart Varney, Susan Li and Bahnsen Group managing partner David Bahnsen discuss how Twitter announcing it’s appointing Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk to its board is impacting the stock market.
Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal tweeted the announcement Tuesday, writing, "Through conversations with Elon in recent weeks, it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our Board."
"He’s both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need on @Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term. Welcome Elon!" he added.
Responding to Agrawal's tweet, Musk wrote, "Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!"
Twitter Inc. said in a Tuesday SEC filing that the company entered into an agreement with Musk Monday that he will be appointed to the Board of Directors with a term expiring at its 2024 annual meeting of stockholders. Per the agreement, Musk cannot, either alone or as a member of a group, own more than 14.9% of the company’s common stock while serving as a member of the board and for 90 days after.
A Twitter spokesperson did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment responding to Nunes’ comments.
Nunes stressed to host Maria Bartiromo on Thursday that the goal of Truth Social is for people to get their voice back on social media.
Trump's Truth Social appears to now be widely available on Apple's App Store. The app includes features such as a custom profile, a search tool, video capabilities, messaging, and a dark mode, according to its link on the App Store.
Nunes, who runs Trump's social media app Truth, told FOX Business Thursday, interactions on the platform is already beating Twitter. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration / Reuters Photos)
In February, Truth Social has welcomed a number of prominent users, including influencers, politicians and celebrities – as well as Americans who were first in line to pre-order the app through the Apple App Store.
FOX Business first reported in February that the platform will be fully operational by the expected end-of-quarter launch date.
Sources told FOX Business that the app is not relying on any traditional big tech companies for infrastructure needs, sources said, but rather on its cloud services partnership with Rumble.
A source familiar told FOX Business that Rumble is positioning itself as an alternative to both YouTube and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
"We’ve been methodically going through this," Nunes told Bartiromo on Thursday.
Markets analyst Scott Shellady, also known as 'The Cow Guy,' weighs in on Twitter appointing the Tesla and SpaceX founder to its board.
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"We had a lot of preorders that we had to get through first, we started a beta test with that, and then we started to onload people as they signed up. We had people on a waitlist," he noted.
"We now would like to get to the point where we clear all the people that have signed up on Apple. That is our goal and then have the web application and once we have a web application, then everybody will be able to get on."
Nunes added that "the next stop will be trying to get everybody an app for Android."
Former California Congressman Devin Nunes, who now runs Donald Trump's app Truth Social, argues Twitter 'desperately' needs Elon Musk given the social media company is a 'ghost town.'
"We are the first company, we are building this from scratch, without the use of any of these Big Tech companies. So we have to go slow [and] methodical to make sure it works," he continued. "We want to make sure people have a quality experience, and that the site is reliable."
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Nunes joined TMTG as CEO in December, after retiring from Congress after nearly two decades.
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FOX Business’ Tyler ONeil, Danielle Wallace, Lucas Manfredi and The Associated Press contributed to this report.