Off message How Twitter expulsion left Trump in wilderness

It was just like old times. Last Wednesday alone, Donald Trump issued pronouncements on a potential war with China, what Congress should do about the debt ceiling, false claims of a stolen election and his Fox News ally “the great Sean Hannity”.

- David Smith

But how many people noticed?

Cast into the social media wilderness, the former US president releases statements by email these days, clogging the inboxes of reporters whose attention has turned elsewhere. The era when a single tweet from Trump could electrify cable news, rattle financial markets and unnerve foreign capitals is long gone. His post-presidential online engagement is in freefall, the Axios website reported last week.

Clicks to content about Trump dropped 37% in August and September compared with June and July, according to the findings. This represented a 50% decline since March.

Monika McDermott, a political science professor at Fordham University in New York , said: “His online presence has definitely declined due to a variety of factors. First of all, he was better on Twitter because he was punchy. He was of the moment: people followed him and got constant updates. Any other platform is very difficult for him to navigate with his style and personality.