Twitter's new owner Elon Musk has reinstated the account of former US president Donald Trump after conducting a pool on the social media platform. The poll, which simply allowed users to vote by choosing Yes or No, ended in favor of the former president. The Yes won the poll with a narrow margin of 51.8% to 48.2%.
Donald Trump's reinstatement means that the former president can return to the platform after being banned for more than 22 months. The ban happened when a pro-Trump mob visited and attacked the US Capitol in the early days of January 2022.
When the poll lasted more than 24 hours, as many as 15 million people voted on the social media platform. Elon Musk tweeted "Vox Populi, Vox Dei," which roughly translates to "The people have spoken."
When Trump's account was suspended, the former president moved to a social media platform he acquired called Truth Social.
Shortly after Trump's account was returned to the platform, his following grew from 0 to over 87 million people. This made it look like many people have been waiting for his account to be reinstated on the social media platform. Also, Trump's tweets, including the one that led to his suspension, were available — before his suspension, he had more than 59,000 tweets.
It is unclear whether the former president is returning to the platform as he had said he wished to remain on Truth Social instead of returning to Twitter. Although many people expect Trump back on Twitter, many things are unclear.
The former president just announced his bid to contest the 2024 presidential elections under the Republican party. If Trump returns to Twitter, it can be a useful tool for his new presidential bid.
Will Trump Come Back to Twitter?
Everyone is expecting Trump back on Twitter, although the former US president has repeatedly said he is not interested in returning to the platform.
He had even urged his followers on Truth Social to partake in the poll Twitter with "positivity." At his Truth Social, he had written, "Vote now with positivity, but don't worry, we aren't going anywhere. Truth Social is special."
Many people consider this an odd statement as the former president could have easily ignored what was happening on Twitter and focused on Truth Social.
The fact remains that Truth Social has far fewer users than Twitter, and it can be incredibly hard for Mr. Trump to campaign and get more followers on Truth Social.
Those professionals analyzing how social media platforms work said that about 92,000 people downloaded the Truth Social in September. In comparison, more than 15 million people downloaded Twitter within the same period.
As part of leaving Twitter, Trump bought Truth Social as a kind of investment as he looked forward to making money with the platform. While he might be making money, Trump's new presidential bid might need him to return to Twitter, where he has a wider audience than Truth Social.
Those fans of the former president are already clamoring for him to return to the social media platform to have a better advantage than his political opponents at the polls.