- Trump, barred from
Twitter , is writing down "insults and observations," The Daily Beast reported. - He "has resorted to suggesting put-downs for others to use or post to their own Twitter," it said.
- Trump is focusing on opponents in the GOP as he tries to retain his hold over the party.
Former President
Sources close to Trump told the publication that he saw the political fate of Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-most-powerful Republican in Congress, as key to his hold over the GOP.
Cheney was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over the Capitol riot on January 6.
Trump was deprived of his most important tool for rallying supporters and attacking opponents when Twitter permanently suspended him from its platform in the wake of the insurrection.
Trump has instead "written out insults and observations, several of them about Cheney," and, unable to tweet them himself, "has resorted to suggesting put-downs for others to use or post to their own Twitter," the Daily Beast report said, paraphrasing a source.
Trump has said he owed his election to his ability to communicate directly with voters via Twitter. As president, he would often tweet from early in the morning to late at night, stirring conflict with critics and opponents and praising allies and supporters.
Before the ban, Twitter had restricted or labeled as misleading dozens of Trump's tweets as he spread the conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
In recent weeks, a rift in the Republican Party has widened between lawmakers who want to rid it of Trump's influence in the wake of the Capitol riot and others who have steadfastly defended him.
A group of Trump loyalists moved to remove Cheney from her position as the chair of the House Republican Conference following her impeachment vote. But in a closed-door GOP meeting on Wednesday, the bid failed.
Trump has supported Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who Democrats have said should be expelled from Congress after news reports detailed her comments expressing support for violence against Democrats and for a range of right-wing conspiracy theories.
At the GOP meeting on Wednesday, several House Republicans reportedly gave Greene a standing ovation after she defended herself.