Kevin McGurn, interim CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group, pushed back on Monday against criticism for selling faster access to President Trump’s Truth Social posts for as much as $100,000, saying there’s a demand for it.
Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns the Truth Social platform, announced earlier this month that it is charging institutional investors and other financial clients for priority access to Mr. Trump’s own social media announcements and other “market-moving government news.”
The plan has drawn fierce criticism from Democrats and others, who say the move is not only unethical, it’s illegal.
Mr. McGurn pushed back on that criticism, saying Trump Media is simply reacting to market demand for faster access to Mr. Trump’s information.
“We have incredible information and it was in high demand,” he said in an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box. “This was demand that came to us from the market so we want to make sure we satisfied that demand in the most brightly lit way.”
Mr. McGurn added that the number of financial companies willing to pay for early access to Mr. Trump’s social media posts has increased substantially since the service went live on Aug. 1.
“We’re getting into the midterms now, and we’re climbing,” Mr. McGurn said, calling it an increase from two weeks earlier, when “more than 10” customer orders had been signed.
Overall, Mr. Trump’s Truth Social account has 13 million followers.
Democratic Sens. Adam B. Schiff of California and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts have urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to probe whether the company is violating the law by offering the service.
“This appears to be an outrageous abuse of the President’s office for his personal benefit that undermines everyday investors and the integrity of our markets, while enriching Wall Street and other wealthy insiders,” they wrote in an Aug. 1 letter to SEC chair Paul Atkins.
A group of congressional Democrats last week introduced legislation to block social media companies from selling faster access to government employees’ accounts that communicate “material information,” according to a bill summary from Rep. Sam Liccardo, a California Democrat who is one of the sponsors.
“Politicians must not convert public office into a putrescent platform for pay-per-view profiteering,” Mr. Liccardo said in a statement.
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