Elon Musk will restore President Donald Trump to Twitter after acquiring the company.
Musk described Trump’s ban as “morally wrong,” even going so far as to describe the permanent ban as “flat-out stupid.”
The self-made billionaire was speaking at FT Live’s “Future of the Car” conference on Tuesday.
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Musk emphasized that he objected to the idea of permanent bans on Twitter, period.
“Permanent bans should be extremely rare and really reserved for accounts that are bots, or scam, spam accounts,” said Musk of the ban.
“I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump. I think that was a mistake, because it alienated a large part of the country.”
“Banning Trump from Twitter didn’t end Trump’s voice. It will amplify it among the right,” said Musk. “I will reverse the permanent ban.
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“And that’s why it was morally wrong and flat-out stupid.”
Even if Trump were to be allowed back on Twitter, it’s not a sure bet that he’d even want to come back.
Trump has emphasized that he plans to stick with his personal social media platform, Truth Social.
However, it’s hard to imagine that the former president would forsake the chance to come back.
Musk suggested that the political segregation of the internet would be a bad development for democracy, depriving the public of a neutral forum to discuss competing views.
The restoration of Trump to Twitter would represent a vindication of free speech on the platform.
The former President was easily the most prominent user ever to face a permanent ban, with the platform’s San Francisco handlers booting him after the controversial Jan. 6 protest.
Musk also took a shot at Twitter’s existing culture during his FT interview, suggesting the location of the company in San Francisco precluded fair treatment of users with centrist and conservative perspectives.
A restoration of Trump on Twitter would be a boon to the ex-president’s 2024 campaign prospects. Trump has suggested he intends to run and would become the second President in American history to serve non-consecutive terms if elected.
