Twitter has reinstated former US President Donald Trump’s account after Twitter CEO and new owner Elon Musk posted a poll on Twitter on Friday night asking the platform’s users if Trump should be reinstated.
According to CNN, the final poll results on Saturday night showed 51.8% in favour and 48.2% opposed. The poll included 15 million votes. Musk tweeted on Saturday:
The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei (the voice of the people is the voice of God).
Before the ban, Trump was Twitter’s most influential, if controversial user, according to CNN.
He has 90 million followers and his tweets often move the markets, set the news cycle, and drove the agenda in Washington.
Asked on Saturday what he thought of Musk buying Twitter and his own future on the platform, Trump said:
They have a lot of problems. You see what’s going on. It may make it, it may not make it.
Trump was in Las Vegas at the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting when he made the remarks.
He said he liked Musk and “liked that he bought (Twitter), adding “He’s a character and I tend to like characters… But he’s smart.
Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, Twitter began applying warning labels to Trump’s tweets in an attempt to correct his election-rigging claims.
Twitter banned Trump’s account following the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Twitter said at the time:
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.
Twitter said two tweets by Trump had violated the company’s policy against the glorification of violence.
