Former US President Donald Trump announced that he will once again run for president of the United States in the 2024 US presidential election during an event at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach. , Florida, November 15, 2022.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Donald Trump on Saturday said he was not interested in returning to Twitter even if a small majority voted in favor of reinstating the former US President, who was banned from using the social media service for inciting violence, in a poll organized by new owner Elon Musk.
More than 15 million Twitter users voted in the poll with 51.8% voting in favor of reinstatement.
“Everyone has spoken. Trump will be reinstated,” Musk wrote on Twitter.
Trump’s Twitter account, which had more than 88 million followers before he was banned on January 8, 2021, began accumulating followers and had nearly 100,000 followers by 10 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Some users initially reported being unable to track their recovered accounts on Saturday night. Trump appeared less concerned earlier in the day. “I don’t see any reason for that,” the former president said via video when asked if he planned to return to Twitter before a panel at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership meeting. or not.
He said he would stick with the new platform Truth Social, the app developed by his startup Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which he says has user engagement better than Twitter and is doing “very well”. Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump, who on Tuesday launched an effort to take back the White House in 2024, praised Musk and said he has always liked him. But Trump also said Twitter suffers from bots, fake accounts and the problems it has had “unbelievable”.
For the first time in May, Musk said he planned to reverse the ban on Trump, and the timing of Trump’s return has been closely watched – and feared – by many of Twitter’s advertisers.
Since then, the billionaire has sought to reassure users and advertisers that such a decision would be made with the deliberation of a content moderation board made up of people with “broadly diverse views.” and no account recovery will occur before the council is convened.
He also said Twitter will not reinstate any banned users until there is a “clear process for doing so.” But this week, Musk reinstated comedian Kathy Griffin, who was banned for changing her profile name to “Elon Musk,” which violated his new rule on anti-impersonation without said it was a parody account. There is no new information about the process as well as the censorship board.
No reason to come back
Trump’s absence could alleviate the concerns of major advertisers, who are already worried about Musk’s drastic reshaping of Twitter. He cut his workforce in half and severely cut the company’s trust and safety team, the team responsible for preventing the spread of misinformation and harmful content.
These actions and Musk’s tweet prompted major companies to stop advertising on the site as they monitor how the platform handles hate speech.
On Saturday, Bloomberg reported that Twitter may lay off more employees in its sales and partnerships departments, citing unnamed sources, just days after a series of engineers resigned.
If Trump returns to Twitter, the move will raise questions about his commitment to Truth Social, which debuted on Apple’s App Store in February and Google’s Play Store in October.
Trump has about 4.57 million followers on Truth Social. Truth Social has been Trump’s main source of direct communication with his followers since he began posting regularly on the app in May. He has used Truth Social to promote his allies, criticize opponents, and defend his reputation against legal scrutiny from state, congressional and federal investigators. However, his deal with the company opens the door for Trump to engage widely in other platforms.
Trump is obligated to spend six hours exclusively on Truth Social on any post – but is free to post “political messages, political fundraisers or voting efforts” on any website, on any website. when, according to a May filing by the SEC.
