Should Trump Go Back to Twitter?

CLAY: Elon Musk, we should update you, in the last few minutes has tweeted as follows:

I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022

CLAY: Now, obviously, if you follow Elon Musk, it can be a bit like trying to translate Sanskrit or whatever. From one moment to the next, he oftentimes tweets emotional things, lyrical things. But this is a tweet that he is, in fact, buying Twitter because why would they leave otherwise? So, that would suggest that he is, in fact, going to buy Twitter.

And Buck asked — and I think it’s a great debate, it’s gonna be a huge discussion — what does this mean for Donald Trump’s Twitter account, and would Trump being back on Twitter be a good thing? Here’s my answer: I think Trump benefits by being not on Twitter. Now, let me explain why. To me, Buck, 2024 should be a referendum on Joe Biden’s failures, on the Democratic Party’s failures.

Because they will have been in power for four years, and the question will be, did Joe Biden, especially if he runs, and/or the Democrats do a good job in office? And I think overwhelming the American public is going to say, no, they did not. My concern with Trump is Trump makes everything about him. And that can be good or bad. And my concern is, if he’s on Twitter, all of a sudden all of the people who were obsessed with Trump…

Trump Derangement Syndrome is a real thing — are going to have him as the primary story as opposed to the Democratic failure. Trump was the primary story in 2020 because he was the incumbent president. In 2016 there was no incumbent president when he ran against Hillary.

So, in 2024, Buck, it has to be, did the Democrats do a good job, no matter who the Republican candidate is? And I think if Trump is tweeting every moment the people who are most bothered by that — and I’m not. I love it; you love it. But suburban women, the people who are swing voters, they’re gonna get upset over Trump on Twitter. So, I think he actually benefits from being off.

BUCK: You remember getting text messages from people I hadn’t heard from like 15 years saying, “Dude open your phone,” because Trump would go on these tweet tears. I think one morning, Clay, he retweeted me six or seven times in a row six or seven different things just like firing it everywhere and all of a sudden the crazies come after you, the supporters, the haters…

So, it’s a lot of fun for us in the media world. I gotta say, I agree with your assessment that for Trump’s purposes, if Elon takes Twitter and it’s a free and open platform, Trump focusing… Yes, he should have some Twitter presence as in the campaign and everything else, he should be allowed on Twitter. But Trump focusing on other things, as in policy, speeches, the mission, might actually be a better thing in the long run. But for the midterms, I think we could bring him back and it’d be fun.

CLAY: And, by the way, you and I can be zealous advocates for Trump or whoever the 2024 nominee is in an even universe where every marketplace is allowed to compete.