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Former President Donald Trump will be allowed back on Twitter, Elon Musk tweeted on November 19, 2022,
“The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” Musk tweeted.
Musk made the controversial move in the wake of a Twitter poll that he has been running on his page. Trump’s Twitter page, @realDonaldTrump, had almost a million followers – but no tweets – in the immediate aftermath of Musk’s decision.
Here’s what you need to know:
Trump Won Musk’s Twitter Poll But Not By a Lot
More than 15 million people weighed in on Musk’s Twitter poll regarding Trump. Musk had asked people to vote yes or no as to whether Trump should be reinstated.
Giving Trump access to Twitter won Musk’s poll 51.8% to 48.2%.
Reinstate former President Trump
Trump has his own social media platform now, so it’s not clear whether he will rejoin Twitter. He did use Truth Social to urge people to vote to reinstate him in Musk’s poll, though. Trump is again a candidate for president.
Musk earlier reinstated satire site Babylon Bee and comedienne Kathy Griffin, among others.
According to NPR, Musk previously described the decision to ban Trump “morally bad” and “foolish in the extreme,” saying, “I think that was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice.” Twitter banned Trump after the January 6 riots. Trump was also banned from Facebook and YouTube, and subsequently created his own social media platform, Truth Social.
Trump Assured Truth Social Users That He Is Not Going Anywhere
Truth SocialTrump post on Truth Social
On Truth Social, three hours before Musk announced his decision, Trump shared Musk’s poll and wrote, “Vote now with positivity, but don’t worry, we aren’t going anywhere. Truth Social is special!”
Four hours before announcing the move, Musk tweeted, “The most entertaining outcome is the most likely – my variant on Occam’s Razor.”
Trump poll getting ~1M votes/hour!
Musk has increasingly spelled out his content moderation policies. “New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach,” he tweeted. “Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter. You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is no different from rest of Internet.”
Since taking over Twitter, Musk has faced boycotts from some advertisers, and even a CBS News affiliate announced that it was pausing Twitter due to concerns.
On Saturday, November 19, before the reinstatement, Trump put cold water on the idea of going back on Twitter even if he was allowed back, saying he saw “a lot of problems at Twitter” and wanted to use Truth Social. Trump had a much larger audience on Twitter than he does on Truth Social.
“I hear we’re getting a big vote to also go back on Twitter I don’t see it because I don’t see any reason for it,” Trump told the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting, according to Bloomberg. “It may make it, it may not make it.”
Trump’s Facebook suspension is set to expire in January 2023, according to NPR.
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