Trump’s Twitter account resurfaces after Musk poll

Trump’s Twitter account resurfaces after Musk poll

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Donald Trump’s infamous Twitter account was restored on Saturday after the platform’s new owner, Elon Musk, conducted a poll that found a slim majority of voters backed the move, days after the former US president made another bid from the White House had announced.

Trump’s account was banned from the platform early last year for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol by a mob of his supporters trying to overturn the 2020 election results.

“People have spoken. Trump will be reinstated,” Musk tweeted on his account shortly after the 24-hour Twitter poll ended.

“Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” he added, echoing a Latin proverb he also posted Friday, meaning “The voice of the people is the voice of God.”

Ultimately, more than 15 million people – out of 237 million daily Twitter users – voted on whether to restore the controversial profile, with 51.8 percent in favor and 48.2 percent against.

Trump, who had more than 88 million users when his account was suspended, enjoyed using Twitter as a mouthpiece throughout his presidency, posting political announcements, attacking political rivals and communicating with supporters.

On Saturday, several of his political allies emphasized his return.

“Welcome back @realdonaldtrump!” House Republican Paul Gosar tweeted.

Musk’s poll called for a simple “yes” or “no” answer to the “reinstatement of former President Trump” statement released by the billionaire Twitter boss on Friday.

“Fascinating to see the Twitter Trump poll!” Musk mused on a spate of tweets Saturday morning from the controversial and dogged new owner of the one-to-many messaging platform.

He has conducted similar polls in the past, asking his followers last year if he should sell shares in his electric car company Tesla. According to this survey, he sold more than $1 billion in shares.

– Twitter chaos –

Trump has said he will not return to the popular platform, but will remain on his own network, Truth Social, which launched after his Twitter ban.

Appearing via video at a gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas on Saturday, Trump said he welcomed Musk’s poll and was a fan of the man himself, but appeared to deny any return.

“I like him…you know, he’s a character and I like characters,” he said.

“He did a poll and it was very overwhelming…but I have something called…Truth Social.”

As for returning to the platform, he said: “I don’t see it because I don’t see a reason for it.”

Musk, also CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has come under fire for radical changes at Twitter, which he bought for $44 billion less than a month ago.

He has since laid off half of Twitter’s 7,500 employees, scrapped a work-from-home policy and imposed overtime, while his attempts to overtake the company have faced backlash and delays.

Its stumbling attempts to overhaul user verification with a controversial subscription service spawned a slew of fake accounts and pranks, prompting major advertisers to pull away from the platform.

On Friday, Musk appeared to be moving forward with his plans to restore previously suspended accounts, including that of comedian Kathy Griffin, which was shut down after she impersonated him on the site.

The company’s offices closed Friday and hundreds of employees quit rather than give in to Musk’s demands to put up with long, grueling days at the new Twitter.

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