Elon Musk Reinstates Donald Trump’s Twitter Account; Refuses to Do So for Alex Jones; “The People Have Spoken. Trump Will Be Reinstated”

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File photo: Rafapress, Shutter Stock, licensed.
The Trump poll had concluded on Saturday, with 51.8 percent of its 15 million participants voting in favor or restoring Trump’s account to him, which at the time of his banning on January 8, 2021 had 88 million followers. File photo: Rafapress, Shutter Stock, licensed.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – After a slim majority in a poll voted in favor of reinstating Donald Trump’s previously-banned account – a move immediately snubbed by the former President in favor of staying on his own Truth Social website – Twitter CEO Elon Musk stated that he would not be granting a similar opportunity to a right-wing personality who had also been excommunicated from the platform, Infowars chief and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

The Trump poll had concluded on Saturday, with 51.8 percent of its 15 million participants voting in favor or restoring Trump’s account to him, which at the time of his banning on January 8, 2021 had 88 million followers. The former Commander-in-Chief had been banned from the popular microblogging website after it was alleged that he had directed his followers to participate in the January 6, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol Building.

“The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated,” Musk tweeted.

Despite having his account returned to him, Trump rejected the offer while speaking with a panel at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership meeting on Saturday, noting that he would be remaining on his own social media platform, Truth Social.

“I don’t see any reason for it,” Trump said on a possible Twitter return. “Truth Social is through the roof. It’s doing phenomenally well. Truth Social has been very, very powerful, very, very strong and I’ll be staying there. But I hear we’re getting a big vote to also go back on Twitter. I don’t see it because I don’t see any reason for it.”

However, despite his willingness to open the door for a Trump return, Musk was less-than-receptive when pressed on restoring the account of Alex Jones, citing the controversial right-wing podcast host’s long-running contention that the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre that killed 20 first graders and six educators was a hoax staged by “crisis actors” in an effort to impose gun control regulations on the public.

In October, Jones was found libel in a massive civil suit brought by families of Sandy Hook victims and ordered to pay $1.44 billion in damages amongst them.

Musk had responded to a tweet issued by internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom, who insisted that Jones’ account be the next one to be reinstated; the Tesla CEO steadfastly refused, stating that he understood the pain of Sandy Hook parents due to his own first child tragically dying of sudden infant death syndrome in 2002 at the age of 10 weeks.

“My firstborn child died in my arms,” Musk tweeted in response. “I felt his last heartbeat. I have no mercy for anyone who would use the deaths of children for gain, politics or fame.”

Jones was originally permanently banned from Twitter in 2018, with the company citing the reason at the time as being for videos and posts that “violate our abusive behavior policy.”

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