Donald Trump’s once-blocked Twitter account reappeared on the platform, minutes after company owner Elon Musk announced he was lifting the 22-month suspension on the former president over incitement of violence.
Musk said Sunday that Donald Trump would be allowed back on Twitter after the site’s new owner ran a poll in which a narrow majority of 15 million voters supported the move.
“The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated,” Musk tweeted of the former US president’s account, which was banned last year after a mob of his supporters attacked the US Capitol.
Musk had launched a Twitter poll wherein he asked users to vote on the reinstatement of Trump’s account.
51.8% of Twitter users voted for the reinstatement of Trump on Twitter, while 48.2% of users were against it.
Trump was banned from Twitter, his preferred method of communicating to the masses, in the wake of the events at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Since then, the former US President has been active on his social networking app, Truth Social.
However, Trump’s account — dormant since days after the January 6, 2021 — was visible to users on Sunday after more than 680 days. The @realDonaldTrump account and its tweets are fully visible again.
It must be noted that after taking control over Twitter Musk had said that he would not reinstate any banned accounts until the company had set up and convened a content moderation council with “widely diverse viewpoints”.
However, the billionaire rowed back on his comment yesterday. Musk decided to poll his own followers on Twitter for Trump’s reinstatement on the platform.
“Reinstate former President Trump,” he tweeted, alongside a poll with buttons to pick “Yes” or “No.”
“Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” he added in a follow-up tweet, Latin for “the voice of the people is the voice of God.”
Musk has a history of polling his followers on everything from an edit button for Twitter, to selling shares in Tesla Inc. and even whether politicians or billionaires are more trustworthy.
Trump has said he will not return to the popular platform but would instead remain on his own network, Truth Social, launched after he was banned from Twitter.
Appearing via video Saturday at a gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas, Trump said he welcomed Musk’s poll, and was a fan of the man himself, but appeared to reject any return.
“I do like him… you know, he’s a character and again, I like characters,” he said.
“He did put up a poll and it was very overwhelming… but I have something called… Truth Social.”
As to whether he would return to the platform, he said: “I don’t see it because I don’t see any reason for it.”
