Elon Musk says he will reinstate Twitter account of former President Donald Trump

New Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk announced that he will reinstate the Twitter account of former President Donald Trump on Saturday.

Musk ran a straw poll on the social media platform starting late Friday asking his followers to vote on whether to reinstate former U.S. President Donald Trump’s account on the platform. The poll ran for twenty four hours.

At its conclusion, Musk wrote in a tweet, “The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei.” The latter phrase means “the voice of the people is the voice of god.”

Under previous ownership, Twitter had issued a lifetime ban on President Donald Trump’s account in January 2021.

The former President’s account was first suspended by Twitter in the wake of the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol where his supporters rioted and disrupted lawmakers who were formally counting Electoral College votes.

At the time, Twitter said in a tweet, it made the decision “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”

For his part, former President Trump said earlier this year that he would not return to the social media platform even if Musk reversed the ban.

Trump has since applauded Twitter’s new ownership under Musk. “I am very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands, and will no longer be run by Radical Left Lunatics and Maniacs that truly hate our country,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account in October. Truth Social is a Twitter-like platform run by the Trump Media & Technology Group.

On Oct. 28, as Musk was taking the helm at Twitter, he wrote on the platform that, “Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints.No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.”

Musk has not yet said whether he has formed a content moderation council or who is participating in it.

This is a developing story please check back for updates…