Former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account was reinstated on Saturday, nearly two years after it had been suspended.
Following the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, Twitter banned Trump, citing “the risk of further incitement of violence.”
However, Elon Musk, the new owner and CEO of Twitter, lifted the ban after holding a poll on Friday asking Twitter users to vote “yes” or “no” on whether Trump’s account should be reinstated.
The poll had 15 million participants, with 51.8% voting “yes.”
Musk tweeted:
“The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei (the voice of the people, the voice of God).”
Soon after, Trump’s account, which had previously been suspended, reappeared on the platform, along with his nearly 60,000 tweets.
Twitter users had mixed feelings about Trump’s account being reinstated.
Many of Trump’s supporters celebrated his return to the site, with the phrase “he’s back” trending shortly after his account was restored.
One wrote:
“@realDonaldTrump is back!!!! He’s back!!!!”
Another added:
“He’s back on Twitter. Let the fun begin.”
A third user commented:
“It’s been jumpy all night. So cool that he’s back!”
Another tweeted:
“I’m glad he’s back.”
A fifth user added:
“Oh no, I’m not triggered that Trump’s back, but it seems a handful of people are triggered that he’s back. Which I think it’s funny!”
Others, on the other hand, were outraged by Trump’s decision to tweet again. On the same day, the hashtags “block Trump” and “blocked” trended.
One tweeted:
“Trump is a malignant narcissist and you are his source of supply. I blocked that s–t flinging gibbon.”
Another added:
“Trump used Twitter to incite an insurrection. Yet he’s back? WTAF!!! I wish Stephen King bought Twitter instead of Elon Musk. Guess the s–tshow is back! Or maybe not. Trump might not want to do anything to make Truth Social look any more useless than it already does.”
A third user wrote:
“Trump has no relevancy if we don’t give them any. We have the power, not him.”
Another person said:
“‘Block Trump.’ I just did. Anyone else #BlockTrump too? Let’s put this baby in the corner for a permanent time out.”
A fifth user added:
“That’s the best way to hurt Trump or any narcissist, ignore them. So he will be on my block list immediately.”
Others have pointed out that blocking Trump may not be necessary because the former president has previously stated that he will remain on his platform, Truth Social, rather than rejoining Twitter, even if his account is reinstated.
Trump acknowledged Musk’s poll about reinstating his account in a speech to a Republican Jewish group meeting in Las Vegas on Saturday, but claimed that Twitter had “a lot of problems.”
Trump said, Bloomberg reported:
“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.”
He added, apparently referring to Twitter’s recent internal issues:
“It may make it, it may not make it.”
Trump’s Twitter account was suspended two days after his supporters stormed the Capitol, shortly after the former president exhorted them to “fight like hell” as Congress prepared to certify President Joe Biden’s election victory.
Twitter said in a statement at the time, CNN reported:
“After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence. In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action.”
Trump was also barred from using Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram. His YouTube channel was taken down. According to CBS News, Facebook will reconsider his account suspension in January.
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