On Truth Social, the social media platform majority-owned by Republican nominee Donald Trump, Tuesday night’s presidential debate provided an opportunity to size up the candidates on both their speaking abilities—and their looks.
Whereas Truth Social was awash in conspiracy theories during June’s debate between Trump and President (and then-nominee) Joe Biden, users on the social media network appeared far more concerned this time around with the appearance and mannerisms of Democrats’ new nominee.
These character attacks tended to crowd out any consideration of policy on the platform. (In an apparent effort to ensure total partisan support for Donald Trump, some posters even claimed to mute their TVs when Harris was speaking.)
Users of Truth Social repeatedly bashed Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday for what she was wearing, her attitude, and her speech patterns. User @CassKorAce called her “pathetically fake,” while other posters complained that her responses sounded memorized. Some users also said Harris sounded “smug” and “patronizing.” @Realrei wrote that Harris had practiced “the Obama smirk [and] arrogant chin raise.”
Frequently, the Truth Social posts about Harris’ demeanor veered into blatant misogyny. One user compared Harris to a sex worker; another said she was a “weak dwarf compared to how strong and tall President Trump looks.”
Once the debate turned toward Trump’s past skepticism over Harris’ heritage, the attacks grew even uglier. User @gkdev wrote that Harris was “playing the emotional Black Card.” Even when Trump seemingly back-stepped his comments about Harris’ race at the debate, Truth Social users doubled down: “Honest question but what race actually is Kamala? I legit have no clue, sorry!! I feel like wikipedia is biased,” user @buddyguy000 wrote.
The name-calling was incessant. Truth Social users called Harris, among other names, a “commie hyena,” “Satan,” and “Comrade Kamala.” ABC, who aired the debate and instituted some fact-checking policies, was also the subject of criticism on the platform. @bradhodges called the network a branch of “communist owned media,” while @OleHenry nicknamed the network “All ‘Bout Censorship.”
Meanwhile, Truth Social’s performance in the social media landscape continues to be a mixed bag. On the one hand, shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social, jumped more than 4% ahead of Tuesday’s debate. On the other, the app has dismal traffic numbers; Similarweb estimates TruthSocial had 16.5 million visits in the last month, compared to Facebook’s 12.9 billion. And with X now becoming a right-wing haven, it’s fair to wonder what Truth Social really brings to the table, aside from bigoted bile.