Twitter owner Elon Musk has reinstated Donald Trump’s account like he had said he would.
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Close call
He ran a poll on his page, asking people to vote yes or no to bring Trump back on the platform.
More than 15 million people — out of 237 million daily Twitter users participated in the poll, with 51.8 percent in favor and 48.2 percent against.
Shortly after the 24-hour Twitter poll on his account ended, Musk tweeted, “The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated.”
“Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” he added, which means “The voice of the people is the voice of God.”
Background
Trump’s account was banned from the platform early last year for his involvement in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
A mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol, looking to overturn the results of the 2020 election that Trump lost.
Trump, who had more than 88 million followers when his account was suspended, was an avid user of the platform, much like Musk himself.
He used Twitter as his main form of communication during his presidency.
There was never a dull day in Trump’s Twitter, with the ex-president posting policy announcements, attacking political rivals and communicating with supporters.
Twitter polls for attention?
This is not the first time Musk took a major decision based on a Twitter poll, asking users to weigh in.
Last year he asked followers whether he should sell stock in Tesla.
Following this stunt he sold more than $1 billion in shares.
Meanwhile Trump has said he will not return to Twitter and will stick with his own network, Truth Social, launched after he was ousted from Twitter.
Birds of a feather..
He said he welcomed Musk’s poll, and was a fan of the man himself, but appeared to reject any return.
“I do like him… you know, he’s a character and again, I like characters,” he said.
That’s one way to put it.
He acknowledged the huge number of users who participated in the poll, “He did put up a poll and it was very overwhelming… but I have something called… Truth Social.”
As to whether he would return to the platform, he said: “I don’t see it because I don’t see any reason for it.”
Another U-Turn
On Friday, Musk went ahead with his plans and reinstated previously banned accounts, including that of comedian Kathy Griffin, which had been taken down after she impersonated him on the site.
Things aren’t so rosy at the business side though.
The company’s offices were locked down Friday as hundreds of employees chose to quit rather than accept Musk’s demands that they must work long, grueling days at the new Twitter, which he calls Twitter 2.0.
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