Former President Donald Trump is again on Twitter (now X) greater than two years after he was banned from the platform within the aftermath of the January sixth Capitol riot. On August twenty fourth, 2023, Trump tweeted for the primary time because the web site reinstated his account on November nineteenth, 2022. His first publish? A picture with the mug shot taken when he was booked on the Fulton County jail in Georgia on prices that he conspired to overturn the outcomes of 2020 Presidential elections.
The picture additionally says “Election Interference” and “By no means Give up!,” together with a URL of his web site. Trump linked to his web site within the tweet, as nicely, the place his mug shot can be prominently featured with a prolonged observe that begins with: “At the moment, on the notoriously violent jail in Fulton County, Georgia, I used to be ARRESTED regardless of having dedicated NO CRIME.”
In November final yr, Musk appeared to make the choice to reinstate Trump’s account primarily based on the outcomes of a Twitter ballot. He requested individuals to vote on whether or not Trump ought to have entry to his account returned. On the finish of 24 hours, the choice to reinstate the previous president gained with 51.8 p.c of a choice that noticed greater than 15 million votes. Musk admitted on the time that a few of the motion on the ballot got here from “bot and troll armies.” Previous to the ballot, Musk additionally stated the choice on whether or not to reinstate Trump would come from a newly shaped moderation council, however he by no means adopted by means of on that pledge.
The web site then often called Twitter banned Trump in early 2021 after he broke the corporate’s guidelines in opposition to inciting violence. The preliminary suspension noticed Trump lose entry to his account for 12 hours, however days later, the corporate made the choice everlasting. At first, Trump tried to skirt the ban, even going as far as to file a lawsuit in opposition to Twitter that finally failed. Following his de-platforming from Twitter, Fb and different social media web sites, Trump went on to create Fact Social. Following his reinstatement, Trump stated he didn’t “see any cause” to return to the platform. That stated, the promise of reaching an enormous viewers with one thing as dramatic as a mug shot was clearly too good for Trump to move up, significantly with what’s prone to be a messy Republican main on the horizon.
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