He is back. While waiting, perhaps, for the comeback of Donald Trump himself, his @realDonaldTrump account has been reactivated on Twitter. The new owner of the social network, Elon Musk, announced it himself on Saturday evening. “The people have spoken. Trump will be restored, ”tweeted the whimsical entrepreneur on his own account after the result of a survey launched among his subscribers.
That poll was opened on Friday evening, hours after Musk reinstated other suspended user accounts, in the name of free speech. More than fifteen million responded and 51.8% voted in favor of “yes” to the return of the Republican politician on the platform. A few minutes after Elon Musk’s message, Donald Trump’s account was visible again, the last tweet dating from January 8, 2021.
The number of subscribers was erratic, rising in less than two hours to 3 million before dropping sharply. The former president has 4.57 million on truth Social, the network he launched after his ouster from Twitter.
Will Donald Trump return? Nothing is less sure. During a video intervention on Saturday at a rally of the Coalition of Republican Jews in Las Vegas, the Republican candidate welcomed the initiative, and Elon Musk. ” I like it (…). You know, he’s a hell of a character and I love hell of a character,” he said. But he has his own network now, he then argued. On Truth Social precisely, he had encouraged his subscribers to “vote with positivity” before adding: “But do not worry, we are not going anywhere. Truth Social is special. »
A decision that divides the political class
The decision to bring Donald Trump back to Twitter will in any case probably create a little more turmoil within the company, already strongly shaken since its takeover by Elon Musk. He left his mark by dismissing the main leaders of the group on his first day before embarking on a massive social plan. Controversial features were launched before being postponed and advertisers leaked.
On the side of the American political class, the rehabilitation of Trump’s account logically divides. “Welcome back @realdonaldtrump! tweeted Republican Paul Gosar, a member of the House of Representatives. “Anyone who thinks President Trump is not going to win the primary in 2024 is getting the finger in the eye,” tweeted Marjorie Taylor Greene, another Republican parliamentarian who is a strong supporter of the former president.
On the other hand, Republican Liz Cheney, who has become the sworn enemy of Donald Trump, reacted to the news by referring her Twitter followers to a video showing one of the hearings carried out by the commission of inquiries launched after the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, which she co-chairs. “With Trump back on Twitter, now is a great time to watch this hearing on Jan. 6,” she tweeted. “It relates to each of the tweets sent by Trump, including those that have been deleted, and shows multiple White House officials describing his inexcusable conduct during this violence,” she added.