Elon Musk Allows Trump Back on Twitter

Former president's ban, instituted after Capitol riot, has been lifted
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 19, 2022 8:17 PM CST
Elon Musk Allows Trump Back on Twitter
Former President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, in Palm Beach, Fla.   (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Elon Musk reinstated Donald Trump’s account on Twitter Saturday, reversing a ban that has kept the former president off the social media site since a pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Musk made the announcement in the evening after holding a poll that asked Twitter users to click “yes” or “no” on whether Trump's account should be restored. The “yes” vote won, with 51.8%, per the AP. “The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” Musk tweeted, using a Latin phrase meaning “the voice of the people, the voice of God.”

Shortly afterward, Trump's account, which had earlier appeared as suspended, reappeared on the platform complete with his former tweets, more than 59,000 of them. However his followers were gone, at least initially. It is not clear whether Trump would actually return to Twitter. An irrepressible tweeter before he was banned, Trump has said in the past that he would not rejoin even if his account was reinstated. He has been relying on his own, much smaller social media site, Truth Social, which he launched after being blocked from Twitter.

And on Saturday, during a video speech to a Republican Jewish group meeting in Las Vegas, Trump said that he was aware of Musk’s poll but that he saw “a lot of problems at Twitter,” according to Bloomberg. “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 was quoted as saying by Bloomberg. “It may make it, it may not make it,” he added, apparently referring to Twitter's recent internal upheavals. (The move comes days after Trump announced his reelection campaign.)

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