During former President Donald Trump's time in office, Parler and the Trump team allegedly tried negotiating a deal that would make Parler Trump's primary social network. In exchange, Trump would have been given a 40 percent ownership stake in the platform.
Parler May Have Wanted Trump Onboard
Parler, the free speech social network, has been making headlines as of late, and not just because the mainly politically conservative platform was booted from app stores and Amazon Web Services.
This time, a report by Buzzfeed News claims that Parler offered Trump a 40 percent stake in Parler if he made it his primary social platform. These talks reportedly occurred during the summer of 2020 and were brought up again after the November election.
It remains unclear whether Trump himself was involved in the negotiations. A legal professional cited on the Buzzfeed report says that if Trump were to agree to this deal during his presidency, it may have violated anti-bribery laws.
The Buzzfeed reporters also claim that they saw documents of these negotiations. As part of the deal, Trump supposedly would have to post to Parler at least four hours before all other social networks.
What If Trump Made Parler His Primary Network?
Having Trump as a frequent user of the platform likely would've pushed Parler to even greater heights. Parler saw a mass migration to the network after Trump's loss in the 2020 election, and this flock would've likely been even bigger had Trump been onboard.
During his campaign and presidency, Trump turned to Facebook and Twitter to rally supporters. Trump never turned to Parler as his go-to network, a platform where his audience likely would've been more accepting.
Trump was banned permanently from Twitter and suspended indefinitely from Facebook—joining Parler might've softened this blow. However, things obviously haven't been working out for Parler.
After the platform was blacklisted, the Parler board allegedly fired its own CEO and co-founder, John Matze. Apparently, Matze pushed for stronger moderation to help Parler regain its space on app stores, but the rest of the Parler team didn't like this idea.
What Does Parler's Future Hold?
Now that John Matze is allegedly out of the CEO chair, Parler has an even more uncertain future. Currently, the website displays a static webpage, but no one knows when the website will be officially up and running.
With Trump out of the White House, will Parler's userbase still remain as strong as it was during the end of his presidency? If Trump closed this supposed deal with Parler, maybe it would've been.
