Trump’s Twitter account–suspended due to alleged election disinformation–will be back as he starts his third presidential run. But the former president doesn’t see the need to come back.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Saturday night that he will reinstate the suspended account of former US President Donald Trump.
As of this writing, the account with the handle @realDonaldTrump is now live and active again.
The move seems to have stemmed from the billionaire’s poll which saw a bare majority choosing to reinstate the former president.
“The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated,” Musk tweeted.
The day before, Musk posted a poll asking if Trump should be reinstated in the platform. Results showed that 51.8% voted yes, with total votes amounting to 15.1 million.
Musk followed the announcement with a tweet claiming 134 million users “have seen this poll.”
In October, days just after Musk purchased Twitter, he tweeted that there would be “a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints” on the platform. He added that “no major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.”
However, Trump doesn’t seem too eager to come back to Twitter. In the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership meeting, when asked about his reinstatement to the platform, the former president said he doesn’t “see any reason for it.”
The businessman-turned-politician has constantly been criticized for his incessant use of Twitter while he was serving as US president. Due to his tweets that perpetuated perceived false information about election fraud during the 2020 presidential elections and its supposed connection to the January 6th Capitol Hill attack, Trump was permanently suspended by the platform. Facebook and Instagram also banned the former president on their respective platforms until 2023 while Youtube suspended his account indefinitely.
Meta recently announced that Facebook–on which Trump is also suspended–won’t be able to fact-check the former president anymore since he announced his White House bid. His announcement triggers a long-standing fact-checking exemption on political speeches, according to a company memo seen by CNN. The firm is also reportedly considering allowing him back on the platform by January next year.
Should Trump be reinstated, Twitter would be another platform for him to leverage on as he launches his presidential run for 2024, especially after losing a sizable support from the Republican party personalities.
Earlier this year, Trump launched social media platform Truth Social through his firm Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), seemingly as an answer to Twitter suspending his account. Like Twitter, Truth Social has the “follow” function in engaging with other users. Options for each post also include similar functions to “comment”, “retweet”, and “favorite”. A user even gets a name “handle” that starts with “@”, which was pioneered by Twitter and Instagram.
Blank check firm Digital World Acquisition Corp (Nasdaq: DWAC) is trying to have a merger deal with TMTG to take it public but has been facing hurdles in closing the transaction. The SPAC has failed to secure the shareholders’ approval on the firm’s proposed 12-month deadline extension to complete a business combination, despite many attempts.
According to whistleblower documents, TMTG is reportedly considering merger arrangements with other private right-wing platforms, including social networking platform Parler, video hosting site Rumble, Discord and linear cable channels like One America News and Newsmax.
Trump vs. Musk
Just earlier this year, the two billionaires were figured in a brief spat. At a rally, Trump claimed that Musk will not buy Twitter amid then rumors of the purchase, calling him “a bullsh*t artist.”
Musk replied to a tweet of the video clip saying it’s “time for Trump to hang up his hat [and] sail into the sunset.” He also added that the Democrats “should also call off the attack [on Trump].”
Following that, Musk shared that he thinks Trump, who will be 82 at the end of the next presidential term, is “too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America.”
Trump–then suspended on Twitter–posted his retort on Truth Social, saying that Musk was “a big Trump fan and Republican,” despite the Twitter chief claiming he has been voting Independent.
“I could have said, “drop to your knees and beg,” and he would have done it,” Trump posted.
Information for this briefing was found via Reuters and the sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
