Interest in 'attention-starved' Trump in 'free fall': report

In an effort to understand Donald Trump's latest attempt to sue his way back onto Twitter, Axios is reporting that the "attention-starved" former president is likely aware that he is becoming yesterday's news as the public appears to be moving on.

Last week the one-term president asked a federal judge to force the social media platform to allow him back on after his banning two days after the Jan 6th insurrection -- a legal move that many experts say has no chance.

As MSNBC analyst Jessica Levinson explained, "Trump's first assertion is that Twitter is violating his First Amendment rights by censoring him. Perhaps one of the most common misconceptions regarding the First Amendment is that it protects our right to say whatever we want without limits. This is grossly incorrect. The First Amendment protects us against government censorship. A private individual or group can absolutely tell you to shut the hell up, and in this case, to get off its platform."

With that in mind, Axios noted that interest in Trump and his antics -- as measured by engagement metrics-- has collapsed, which could put a crimp in both his fundraising efforts as well as reported plans to make a third presidential run.

As Axios' Neal Rothschild writes, "Donald Trump's post-office online engagement is hitting new lows, according to exclusive data from SocialFlow provided to Axios," before elaborating, "Trump has tried press releases styled as tweets, launched his own "platform" and held campaign-style rallies, yet the numbers suggest his social media megaphone has no true replacement."

Getting into the numbers, the Axios report states, "Clicks to Trump content dropped 37% in August and September compared to the two months prior, according to the data. It measures clicks from social media posts referred from SocialFlow's network of publishers. The decline marked a 50% dip compared to March — the first month Trump free-fell from the news after February's impeachment trial."

Even more worrisome for the former president is the fact that stories about Trump -- as opposed to his almost daily "statements" posted by his spokesperson on Twitter -- are also falling flat with news-seekers.

"Interest in those Trump stories also is going down. Per article, they are averaging 28% less engagement on social media in August and September," Axios reports.

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