Elon Musk, the billionaire in the process of buying Twitter, said the social media platform was wrong to ban former President Donald Trump and he will reinstate Trump’s account when he officially takes control of the company.
“I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump. I think that was a mistake … It alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice,” Musk said Tuesday at an event hosted by The Financial Times.
“I think it was a morally bad decision to be clear and foolish in the extreme,” he contined.
“I would reverse the permanent ban,” Musk added. “I don’t own Twitter yet. So this is not like a thing that will definitely happen, because what if I don’t own Twitter?”
CNBC provides context:
Twitter permanently suspended Trump from the platform in January 2021 following the attack by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol. The company said it made the decision after the Jan. 6 riot “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” Trump at the time had more than 80 million followers on the platform.
But once Musk announced he was interested in taking over the company in part to make it a free speech platform, questions arose whether he would invite Trump back on. Trump said last month he wouldn’t return to the company if he had the chance.
“No, I won’t be going back on Twitter,” Trump said to CNBC in April, although he called Musk “an excellent individual.”
“I like Elon Musk. I like him a lot,” Trump said.
But Trump says he’s committed to his fledgling Twitter rip-off, Truth Social.
