Former President Donald Trump’s social media platform Truth Social is picking up a major new user.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) decided to create an account to address what he claims are “Republican lies.”
In a video posted on the platform on Thursday, Newsom said, “I know we’re all on this platform in search for the truth.”
“But the truth is I’ve not been able to find a simple explanation for the fact that we have a red state murder problem,” he continued.
Newsom added: “Eight of the top ten states for the highest murder rates happen to be red states. So the question is simple. What are the laws and policies in those states that are leading to such carnage?”
Watch the video below:
I just joined Trump’s Truth Social.
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) June 16, 2022
Going to be on there calling out Republican lies. This could get…interesting.
My first post — breaking down America’s red state murder problem. https://t.co/5IxSCf4XJY pic.twitter.com/RnEaKNwpaF
According to Fox News, Mississippi is the state with the highest homicide mortality rate.
Louisiana, Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, Illinois, and New Mexico, round out the top 10 states with the highest homicide mortality rate.
Meanwhile, California comes in at the 31st spot.
Setting aside the fact that Newsom probably has his own answer for this question, it is nice to see a Democrat deciding not to shun Trump’s platform and leave users to their own echo chamber.
A lot of people on Truth Social probably aren’t too happy about Newsom deciding to venture into that space to share his views — as of Friday morning, that was the only post he has made, so it’s unclear how many posts he will be making.
But in this country, we have an issue where too many people only want to hear information that confirms their own biases. They don’t really want to be confronted with information that refutes or runs counter to their beliefs, and too many people also don’t want to deal with defending their views.
After Twitter accepted Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s offer to buy it, many liberals announced their plans to leave the platform amid concerns that it would become a “hellhole.”
Yes, dealing with trolls and bad faith arguments online can be frustrating.
But the alternative of having both sides retreat to their own platforms and shut out opposing arguments is not a good way to maintain any kind of national cohesion.
While Newsom probably isn’t running his own social media accounts exclusively, he does deserve credit for venturing into a conservative haven to try to create a discussion and confront users with a different perspective.