Former U.S. President Donald Trump joined the Rumble video platform on Saturday, the same day he took the stage at a campaign-style rally in Ohio, his first of its kind since the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan.
Trump lost his social media megaphone earlier this year when he was blocked by a number of platforms after his supporters stormed the Capitol. He has been permanently banned from Twitter and will remain banned from Facebook until at least 2023 and Alphabet’s YouTube until the company determines the risk of violence has decreased.
Trump spokeswoman Liz Harrington said joining Rumble is an addition to the former president’s plan to create his own platform, and not a substitute for that plan. Trump, who closed his recently launched blog earlier this month, has not given any details on the proposed platform.
“It’s a great way to reach the American people at a time of unprecedented attacks on freedom of expression in our country by big-tech bullies,” Harrington said in an email to Reuters.
Rumble’s chief executive officer Chris Pavlovski confirmed that Trump’s verified account had been set up on the website but declined to comment. Trump’s advisor Dan Scavino tweeted that Trump’s Ohio rally would be broadcast live on the platform.
Founded in 2013 by Canadian tech entrepreneur Pavlovski as a YouTube-style alternative website, Rumble has become popular with US Conservatives.
Billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel and JD Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy, are investors in the platform.
(With contributions from agencies)
