Donald Trump says he has ‘no reason’ to return to Twitter
Now that Twitter would have him as a member, Donald Trump doesn’t want to join.
The former president and perpetual candidate said Saturday he had “no reason” to return to the social media platform, after new owner Elon Musk said he could be reinstated following the results of a user poll.
Just over half of the 15 million Twitter users — 51.8% — that participated in Musk’s Friday survey voted to allow the Republican back onto what used to be his favorite platform.
Trump, 76, was booted from the social site for inciting violence following the deadly riots at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated,” Musk tweeted.
The Republican, who dealt with the ban by starting his own social media site Truth Social, shrugged at the news, and had not posted to his 72.4 million followers on his @realDonaldTrump account since it reemerged.
“I don’t see any reason for it,” the former president said via video Saturday when asked about a potential return at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership meeting.
Trump claimed Truth Social, which was developed by his Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) startup, had better user engagement than Musk’s site and was performing “phenomenally well.”
The 2024 candidate has close to 5 million followers on the right-wing-friendly platform, whose shareholders were set to vote Tuesday on a merger with a blank-check acquisition that has penned a deal to take the company public for $1.3 billion.
Trump had previously applauded Musk’s takeover of Twitter, saying he was glad the company was in “sane hands” after the deal was completed last month, and could potentially use the site in addition to Truth Social.
Trump is contractually obligated to give Truth Social a six-hour exclusive on his missives, but could post post “political messaging, political fundraising or get-out-the vote efforts” on any site, at any time, according to a May SEC filing.
Musk had previously sought to reassure advertisers that any decisions on reinstating Trump or other users would be made by a diverse content moderation council, and said there would need to be a “clear process for doing so.”
The mega-billionaire changed his tune earlier in the week, electing to reinstate comedian Kathy Griffin, who was recently banned for changing her profile name to “Elon Musk,” in violation of his rule about undeclared parody accounts.
With Post wires
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