Updated Nov 19, 2022 - Economy

Elon Musk weighs letting Trump return to Twitter

Herb Scribner

SpaceX founder Elon Musk looks on after being recognized by U.S. President Donald Trump at NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building — SpaceX founder Elon Musk looks on after being recognized by former President Donald Trump at NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building. Photo: Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Elon Musk dropped a 24-hour poll on his own Twitter feed Friday night asking whether or not to reinstate former President Trump to the social media platform.

Why it matters: Since he took over the company, there's been a lot of interest in whether or not Musk would allow Trump to return to Twitter after a nearly two-year absence.

Details: Musk's new Twitter poll had a simple "yes" or "no" vote on whether to reinstate former President Trump.

Musk replied to his own tweet Friday night, saying, "Vox Populi, Vox Dei" — which is a Latin phrase meaning, "the voice of the people is the voice of God."
When the poll closed at 7:47 pm ET on Saturday, the poll had amassed over 15 million votes. The final tally was 52% to 48% in favor of reactiviating Trump's Twitter account.
Musk said the poll was getting 1 million votes per hour.

On Friday, Musk said Twitter would deemphasize "hate" or "negative" tweets and that he had reinstated some accounts, such as Kathy Griffin, Jordan Peterson and The Babylon Bee.

A decision on Trump, he said at the time, had not been made.

Context: Musk has previously used informal polls to earn favor for plans he was planning to implement anyway, Axios' Hope King writes.

Flashback: Trump was suspended in response to the "risk of further incitement of violence," the company said at the time, according to Axios. The decision came after a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. capitol to stop the certification of President Biden's victory.

When Musk took over Twitter in October, Trump said the social media platform is now in sane hands."
In April, Trump told Fox News that he would not return to Twitter and would continue to use his own platform, Truth Social.

Go deeper: Twitter disarray deepens as Musk ultimatum drives away key workers

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include the final totals from Musk's poll.

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Elon Musk weighs letting Trump return to Twitter

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