Twitter explodes as Musk’s poll tops 12 million, favoring Trump’s return
Ryan King
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Former President Donald Trump may be on his way out of the Twitter doghouse as favor for his return to the platform is leading the self-proclaimed Chief Twit’s poll on whether he should be reinstated.
As of Saturday afternoon, over 12 million users chimed in, backing Trump’s return by roughly 52.3% to 47.7% with seven hours left for voting. Twitter CEO Elon Musk tweeted the poll after stating a decision on Trump’s suspension had not been made. The move proved divisive among many of its most prominent users.
MUSK SAYS TWITTER WILL PROMOTE FREE SPEECH BUT LIMIT SPREAD OF HATEFUL LANGUAGE
“Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” the billionaire tycoon tweeted, using the Latin phrase meaning “the voice of the people is the voice of God.”
“Fascinating to watch Twitter Trump poll,” Musk later wrote.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1593767953706921985?s=20&t=NxKPS7uGGDTilepDjN_tzg
Trump had been permanently booted off the platform during the fallout from the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and had been similarly suspended from Facebook as well. Detractors were quick to highlight the potential pitfalls of uncaging Trump’s Twitter account, while supporters were giddy or disgruntled with Musk being indecisive on the matter.
“Idk man, last time he was here this platform was used to incite an insurrection, multiple people died, the Vice President of the United States was nearly assassinated, and hundreds were injured but I guess that’s not enough for you to answer the question. Twitter poll it is,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) tweeted.
https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1593790066987442176?s=20&t=MzR1klX2HjloRfr65R9dXQ
“Elon Musk is holding a poll on whether to bring Trump back to twitter prior to cleaning up what he claimed was a widespread bot/automation problem on Twitter. Makes sense he would do this prior to fixing the problem he claimed existed,” Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko tweeted.
https://twitter.com/AdamParkhomenko/status/1593774799049805825
Others felt that Trump’s ban from the social media platform was “inconsistent” with how the website treats other political officials’ accounts.
“I don’t like permanent bans at all. But specific to Donald Trump, his ban is inconsistent with the treatment of other political figures in the United States and around the world. There are authoritarian regimes with active Twitter accounts. Create a clear standard and follow it,” former Rep. Justin Amash, a speaker of the House contender, tweeted.
https://twitter.com/justinamash/status/1593816468847837184?s=20&t=MzR1klX2HjloRfr65R9dXQ
Musk previously said earlier this year he would “reverse” the ban on Trump’s account when billing himself as a “free speech absolutist.”
“I would reverse the permanent ban,” Musk declared earlier this year, per CNBC. “I don’t own Twitter yet. So this is not like a thing that will definitely happen, because what if I don’t own Twitter?”
Musk has since appeared to waver after taking the reins of the social media behemoth. Last month, he unveiled plans to form a “content moderation council” and stressed that “no major content decisions or account reinstatement” will take place before it convenes.
Then, on Friday, the space and electric car guru posted the poll after freeing the Babylon Bee, Jordan Peterson, and Kathy Griffin from Twitter jail. He also told a user, “No,” when asked about restoring conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’s account.
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Trump, once one of Twitter’s most prolific users, has indicated he won’t return to the platform, even if he was allowed to do so. Instead, he has turned to his own social media platform, Truth Social. He launched his 2024 campaign Tuesday.
Musk’s $44 billion takeover has been turbulent for Twitter as he steers the company through mass layoffs and demands his workers to go “hardcore.” Earlier this week, many users speculated the platform could soon fall by the wayside amid an exodus of engineers.