Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Republicans on Wednesday expressed outrage over news that Donald Trump\u2019s Facebook suspension would remain in place for the time being. Privately, many of them, including some close to the former president, were panicked. <\/p>\n
The ruling by the Facebook oversight board meant that Trump would remain off the platform for the foreseeable future and, perhaps, well beyond should the company make the ban permanent. In practical terms, the main driver of Republican Party enthusiasm would be less omnipresent in voters\u2019 lives \u2014 a reality that sparked fear for some GOP operatives. As for Trump, he would remain without one of the great money-raising spigots in all of politics as his political operation geared up for a possible 2024 run. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a huge decision, makes it infinitely harder for him to raise money,\u201d conceded a person close to the Trump operation. \u201cFacebook was the main way he raised money. He\u2019s now going to have to spend far more in the future to find other ways to raise money \u2026 It was the main way he found donors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s official line in response to the ruling showed no concern over the financial ramifications of it, though some anxiety about how it could impact his ability to communicate with his hordes of followers. He accused Facebook, Twitter, and Google of taking away his free speech, called them \u201ccorrupt\u201d and demanded that they \u201cpay a political price.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it was clear that money matters were on his team\u2019s mind. Shortly after the official statement was released, the Trump operation blasted out a text message to its list calling the Facebook ban \u201cNONSENSE\u201d but also asking for money. \u201cI want a list of all donors sent to my office,\u201d the text read.<\/p>\n
Not everyone in the party felt that Trump would end up in a worse place because of the continued Facebook ban. The president still has one of the biggest email lists in politics even if it will atrophy without access to the country\u2019s largest social media platforms. And in the tech industry, he has a b\u00eate noire to rail against. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said the Facebook decision would ultimately help Trump by making him a tech \u201cmartyr.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cDo you want a communist Chinese style control over your voice or American style openness? We\u2019ll see whether Biden sides with the Chinese communists or with the American people,\u201d Gingrich said. <\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Republicans argued that keeping Trump off Facebook would be good for the party, even if (or perhaps because) it would be \u201cdevastating\u201d for Trump.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes it more difficult for him and it gives everyone from Tim Scott to Nikki Haley to Mike Pompeo to Ted Cruz the ability to go out and begin to win over the Trump donors and voters that exist in a vacuum that Trump is not filling,\u201d said one top GOP operative.<\/p>\n
Already, GOP groups like the National Republican Senatorial Committee are running Facebook ads keying off Trump\u2019s battle with \u201cBig Tech\u201d<\/a> \u2014 a sign the party sees the flap as a strong opportunity to engage supporters and that Trump\u2019s visage remains one of the best ways to draw in donors on Facebook. <\/p>\n But Trump himself can\u2019t tap that universe, at least for the time being. And other Republicans feared that MAGA fanatics would become less engaged politically as Trump grew more remote in their lives. \u201cFundraising begets fundraising so him raising money helps,\u201d said a separate top GOP operative who is working on congressional races this cycle.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s suspension from Facebook came after the Capitol riot in early January. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the president would be indefinitely off the platform because he\u2019d used it to \u201cincite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government.\u201d But the social media giant also referred its decision to the company\u2019s independent oversight board for a review and allowed for Trump to make his case against a ban.<\/p>\n A statement submitted on Trump\u2019s behalf by the American Center for Law and Justice claimed Trump called for supporters to be \u201cpeaceful and law abiding\u201d and went on to say there was a \u201ctotal absence of any serious linkage between the Trump speech and the Capitol building incursion.\u201d <\/p>\n A content director for the board said the argument from Trump\u2019s team was \u201creplete with falsehoods.” And after the announcement of the oversight board\u2019s decision to punt back to Facebook, a spokesperson for the social media platform said the company stood by the decision to keep Trump accounts offline. <\/p>\n In the absence of Facebook and Twitter, Trump has continued to share his opinions on everything from the Academy Awards to Republican politics on friendly news show interviews and in statements dictated to aides and distributed to the public via email. On Tuesday, he launched a blog on his own website. But aides acknowledge he no longer has the same reach. <\/p>\n Alternative social platforms have been discussed by aides, but so far none have been backed by Trump or shared publicly. Trump\u2019s team had anticipated Facebook would let him back on the site, and a person close to Trump said the company\u2019s decision would only mean a \u201cmore aggressive timeline\u201d for the development of a new social media platform. <\/p>\n \u201cThe model [for fundraising] that has been used to date has been a Facebook-related model, but Trump has one of the largest databases of emails and phone numbers of any political operation in modern times and so it\u2019s a matter of deploying that in a different way,\u201d the person said. \u201cSo while it would be a short term disadvantage it would be a long term advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n With over 32 million followers, Trump had the third-largest political following on Facebook behind former president Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His page was one of the most powerful platforms on the internet. In the final months of last year\u2019s election, the Donald Trump Facebook page dwarfed not just Joe Biden\u2019s page but the pages of many media outlets in total interactions by about a factor of ten.<\/p>\n Trump used his oversize presence on Facebook to not only amplify his message but to tap into a vast network of grassroots, small dollar donors. Advertising on Facebook was a major focus of his 2020 campaign effort, with nearly $140 million spent on the platform. <\/p>\n For Democrats, Facebook was more than a nuisance in 2020; it was a problem \u2014 not because of Trump\u2019s ability to tap donors through it but because of the pervasiveness with which disinformation spread on it. The Biden campaign openly clashed with Facebook last fall. Campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon wrote in a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in September, calling the social network \u201cthe nation\u2019s foremost propagator of disinformation about the voting process.\u201d She added that: “Facebook\u2019s continued promise of future action is serving as nothing more than an excuse for inaction.” <\/p>\n Biden aides felt at liberty to publicly chide the company at will. So too did the boss. \u201cI\u2019ve never been a fan of Facebook, as you probably know. I\u2019ve never been a big Zuckerberg fan. I think he\u2019s a real problem,\u201d Biden told The New York Times<\/a> editorial board in 2019.<\/p>\n The oversight board\u2019s decision on Tuesday didn\u2019t spark praise among Democrats, who continued to argue that the company itself should have acted far sooner and more decisively. But they did view it as a potentially major development in the political landscape.<\/p>\n “Trump used Facebook to organize his supporters and fundraise, and Twitter to talk to media,\u201d said Nu Wexler, a former Facebook staffer and Democratic operative. \u201cGetting locked out of Facebook ads is a bigger punishment than any restrictions on his political speech.”<\/p>\n For conservatives eager to make tech a bogeyman in upcoming elections, Trump\u2019s suspension from Facebook and permanent ban from Twitter has only escalated their threats \u2014 ranging from lawsuits by conservative organizations to antitrust enforcement by Congress. <\/p>\n Trump, too, has argued for going after major tech companies by removing forms of legal shields that they enjoy for the content posted on them. Whether he will be in a position of power to affect that policy is less clear. He has not made any announcements about a run in 2024, and his indecision has held other presidential hopefuls hostage as they try to build out early operations. But Facebook\u2019s decision may have already handicapped Trump\u2019s future plans. <\/p>\n \u201cIt’s a huge blow to his fundraising and ability to communicate with the masses,\u201d said Mike Nellis, a Democratic digital strategist who was a senior adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris\u2019 presidential campaign. It\u2019s \u201cgoing to make it very difficult to make a comeback.\u201d<\/p>\n Alex Isenstadt and Alex Thompson contributed to this report.<\/p>\n