--- title: "“Trump Is a Coward” Trends on Truth Social" description: "#Trumpisacoward trended on Truth Social in response to Donald Trump's decision to back out of an ABC-hosted debate against Kamala Harris." date: "2024-08-06" modified: "2024-08-06" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/trump-coward-truth-social" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "donald trump" - "social media" - "the digest" - "truth social" --- # “Trump Is a Coward” Trends on Truth Social ![#Trumpisacoward trended on Truth Social in response to Donald Trump's decision to back out of an ABC-hosted debate against Kamala Harris.]() *\Image: Spencer Pratt / Brandon Bell via Getty / Futurism\* ## Uno Reverse Over the weekend, presidential candidate Donald Trump [took to Truth Social](), the social media app he started and owns a majority stake in, to announce that he would be [backing out]() of a scheduled debate against his opponent Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump had agreed to the debate, which was slated for September 10 on *ABC*, when incumbent President Joe Biden was still in the race. But with Biden off the ticket and Harris [poised to become]() the Democratic nominee, the ex-president reneged; he's now pushing for a September debate — if a debate happens at all — to be held under different conditions at the conservative network *Fox.* Trump's withdrawal has been unsurprisingly met with backlash, with critics charging that the former president's take-backsies on the debate represented cowardice. And incredibly, that critique even spread to the ever-strange online world that is Truth Social: as [caught by *Raw Story*,]() the hashtag #trumpisacoward trended on Truth Social on Sunday in response to the debate news. ## Reality Check Per *Raw Story*, the phrase first started trending on X-formerly-Twitter before making its way over to Truth Social. In true Truth Social fashion, the other trending hashtags at the time were #Jesus, #Faith, #MAGA, and #Trump2024. Naturally. But upon closer inspection, it doesn't look like the #trumpisacoward tweets were coming from die-hard MAGA accounts. Truthers posting the phrase included accounts with titles like "Realitycheck," which offers up a telling "Fuck Trump" in its bio; "The GOP Karma Train," whose bio reads that "in a world that has gone crazy," they're "patiently waiting for Trump to be held accountable for his countless crimes"; and "Real\_Conservative5," who writes in their bio that "it's sad to see a once conservative party" become "the party of Trump, crime, treason and lies." In other words, even though #trumpisacoward was indeed trending on Trump's generally very pro-Trump social media site, it wasn't that the average Trump-supporting Truth Social user had suddenly turned against the former president. Instead, the hashtag's popularity was driven by a mass posting spree from the platform's resist crowd, which does appear to actually exist. Even so, if you're Trump, the searing criticism on home turf probably rankled. **More on Donald Trump:** [*Trump Says He Supports Electric Cars Now That Elon Musk Endorses Him*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()