Donald Trump's Twitter Reinstatement

Overview

Donald Trump's Twitter Reinstatement or Donald Trump Twitter Unban refers to a contentious decision on November 18th, 2022, by Twitter owner Elon Musk to put out a poll to his followers about whether to reinstate former President Donald Trump on the platform, whose account was removed following the January 6th insurrection in 2021. After a narrow majority supported reinstating Trump, the former President's account, @realDonaldTrump, was reactivated on the evening of November 19th, 2022. The decision sparked widespread debate and controversy online shortly after.

Background

Trump was originally removed from Twitter on January 8th, 2021, after content moderators found that his remarks violated the site's "Glorification of Violence" rule. Specifically, Twitter felt the need to remove the account "due to the risk of further incitement of violence," referring to the events of January 6th, 2021, which saw a violent crowd of Trump supporters descend on the United States Capitol.^[1] Many argue these supporters were inspired by Trump's insistence (which he posted about frequently on Twitter) that he was the rightful winner of the 2020 election.

Following his Twitter suspension, Trump notably created his own social media platform, Truth Social, which imitated the design and mechanics of Twitter. He continued to intervene in American politics, participating in the 2022 midterm elections and making appearances in the right-wing media. On November 16th, 2022, Trump announced that he would run for President in 2024, although many had already assumed and expected he would.^[2]

In October 2022, Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter then went through. Early on, many supposed that he would move to reinstate the former President and other previously banned individuals. Originally, Musk had stated in an October 28th, 2022, tweet that "account reinstatement" decisions would be made by a content moderation council (seen below).^[3]

Elon Musk's Twitter Poll

Amid increasing chaos and negative coverage of Twitter in early November 2022, Musk then posted a poll (as he had at various other points) on November 18th, 2022, asking the opinion of Twitter users about whether Trump should be reinstated (seen below).^[4]

In the course of 24 hours, the poll received over 15 million votes, with 51.8 percent of respondents saying "yes" to a Trump reinstatement and 48.2 percent saying "no." Musk stated on the same night of the poll's posting that over 130 million people had seen the post. He also added a slogan in Latin, "Vox Populist, Vox Dei" (the voice of the people is the voice of God).

When the poll closed on November 19th, 2022, Musk announced that Trump would return to Twitter in a post that received over 860,000 likes (seen below) in less than 24 hours.^[5]

Trump's Reaction to Twitter Unban

In the few days following the unbanning of his account, Donald Trump notably did not post anything on Twitter. In remarks given at the Republican Jewish Convention on Saturday, November 19th, 2022, he said that although he liked Elon Musk and thought the new Twitter owner was a "character," Trump would not return to the platform because he was committed to posting on his own social media network, Truth Social (seen below).^[9]

Speaking at rjc</a>, Trump responds to <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">elonmusk’s poll asking if he should be allowed back on Twitter:“I don’t see any reason for it.”#rjcinvegas pic.twitter.com/ywUV8CiRFH

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) November 19, 2022

Many speculated that the reason for Trump's dismissal of his Twitter account's reactivation was due to his financial and personal interest in Truth Social, which is his own business venture where he's also one of the main draws of the platform, attracting many users. Twitter, however, offers him a larger platform as a 2024 presidential candidate, and many speculated it may be difficult to resist his old haunts.^[10] On November 21st, 2022, Elon Musk then posted a Me Trying To Live A Normal Productive Life meme about the temptation of Twitter for Trump, earning over 866,000 likes in less than a day (seen below).^[11]

Response to Musk's tweet was mixed, with some like Dr. Jordan Peterson praising the new Twitter owner's sense of humor and others condemning his promotion of an "inappropriate" meme (example seen below).

Other Account Reinstatements

In mid-November 2022, Elon Musk also moved to reinstate accounts other than Trump's that had been removed from the platform for posting hate speech or other violations. These accounts included Jordan Peterson's and Kanye West's, both of whom posted celebratory tweets about their restatement. Peterson, posting on November 18th, 2022, received over 569,000 likes in three days (seen below, top).^[12] Ye, posting on November 20th, received over a million likes in less than 24 hours (seen below, bottom).^[13]

Andrew Tate was also reinstated on November 19th after a five-year ban, later posting a video on November 21st of himself smoking a cigar on a plane and purportedly flying to California to thank Musk, receiving over 245,000 likes in less than a day (seen below, top).^[14] Right-wing outlet the Babylon Bee was also reinstated around this timeframe and posted a similarly flattering post for Musk, quoting his "let that sink in" joke from the early days of his arrival at Twitter (seen below, bottom).^[15]

Online Reactions

Following the unbanning of Donald Trump's Twitter account, some online greeted the news with happiness, particularly those who were supporters of Trump. Other right-wing figures, like Marjorie Taylor Greene, replied to the reinstatement announcement with their own reinstatement requests. Her tweet on November 19th, 2022, received over 50,000 likes in a day (seen below).^[6]

Others parodied the joyfulness of those who celebrated Trump's return, such as Twitter user @BarryOnHere, who received over 7,200 likes on November 19th for a tweet jokingly comparing Trump to Jesus (seen below).^[7]

Many also reacted negatively to the reinstatement, arguing that it proved Musk was not serious about content moderation or free speech but was instead inflicting his own ideology and biases on the platform. Some notably criticized the methodology of the poll, arguing that many of the votes were by purportedly bots. Twitter user @GenzForChange, for example, tweeted criticism of Trump on November 20th, earning almost 650 likes in less than a day (seen below).^[8]

External References