'Shame on you': Journalists and celebrities revolt at Trump's reinstatement to Twitter

Cami Mondeaux

November 21, 08:55 AM November 21, 08:55 AM

Several celebrities and prominent journalists are hitting out against billionaire Elon Musk for his decision to reinstate former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account, with many leaving the platform in protest.

Musk restored access to Trump’s account on Saturday after a Twitter poll overwhelmingly voted in favor of doing so, resurrecting the page after nearly two years of inactivity after the former president was banned in the fallout of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The decision was met with mixed reactions as some praised the return and others denounced it. Meanwhile, Trump said he has no plans to sign back on.

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“I don’t see any reason for it,” Trump said. “Truth Social has taken the place for a lot of people, and I don’t see them going back onto Twitter.”

Trump’s account was suspended in January 2021 during the fallout of the Capitol riot, prompting criticism from many on the platform once his account was revived.

"Idk man, last time he was here this platform was used to incite an insurrection, multiple people died, the Vice President of the United States was nearly assassinated, and hundreds were injured but I guess that's not enough for you to answer the question. Twitter poll it is," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) in a tweet.

The decision also drew criticism from the NAACP, who called on advertisers to pull their support from the platform in response to the decision.

“In Elon Musk’s Twittersphere, you can incite an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, which led to the deaths of multiple people, and still be allowed to spew hate speech and violent conspiracies on his platform,” the organization said in a statement. “If Elon Musk continues to run Twitter like this, using garbage polls that do not represent the American people and the needs of our democracy, God help us all.”

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), who serves as the vice chairwoman of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, also responded to Trump’s reinstatement, encouraging her followers to remember the former president’s conduct during the Capitol riot.

"With Trump back on Twitter, it’s a good time to watch this Jan 6 hearing,” she said in a tweet. “It covers each of Trump’s tweets that day, including those that have been deleted, and features multiple Trump WH staff describing his inexcusable conduct during the violence."

Some prominent journalists also reacted to the news, criticizing Musk’s decision as “meaningless” and potentially affected by foreign agents.

"I think these polls are mostly a gimmick, and I would argue the people haven’t spoken, the GRU has spoken," said Scott Galloway, an author and public speaker, on CBS News’s Face the Nation, referring to a Russian military intelligence service. "Twitter has become a playground for bad actors and fake bots, this poll is meaningless, this decision is meaningless."

Others who were fed up with the reinstatement decided to leave the platform altogether, announcing they would be deleting their accounts in response.

"Shame on you for giving [Trump] and other professional liars the platform you are now in control of, and shame on anyone who does," musician Jack White wrote in an Instagram post on Sunday, announcing he would deactivate the Twitter account of his record label Third Man Records. "And shame on you if you think it's no big deal. It is."

Is Elon Musk paving the way for a Trump return to Twitter?

Brady Knox

October 28, 12:16 AM October 28, 12:16 AM

One of Elon Musk's first actions as Twitter's new CEO could be a sign that he is setting up former President Donald Trump for a return as tweeter in chief.

Almost immediately upon closing the $44 billion Twitter deal on Thursday, Musk fired CEO Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, and Vijaya Gadde, head of legal policy, trust, and safety, according to insiders speaking with the Washington Post. Gadde was reportedly the figure instrumental in getting Trump's account banned.

So far Musk has only tweeted one missive that appears to be about his acquisition: "the bird is freed." Now the question that remains is whether Trump would even return, if unbanned, given his previous assertion that he would not do so, preferring to stay on his own alternative platform of Truth Social, among many others users who have been pushed off Twitter.

Musk announced in May that he would unban the former president. He hasn't commented on the matter recently, following legal squabbles with Twitter's former owners. At a Financial Times conference in May, Musk said that Twitter's choice to ban Trump after the Capitol riot was “a mistake because it alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice," then went so far as to call the decision “morally wrong and flat-out stupid," according to the New York Times. He added that permanent bans should only be reserved for accounts that operate bots or spread spam. He added that temporary suspensions should only be put in place in rare instances, though could be appropriate for "wrong and bad" tweets, Reuters reported.

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There has already been some pushback against the prospect of a Trump return from a top ad-buying agency. Kieley Taylor, global head of partnerships at GroupM, said that at least a dozen clients told the agency to pause ads on Twitter if Trump should return, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Musk tweeted on Wednesday in an open letter to advertisers that Twitter should not, "become a free-for-all hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences!"

Around the time of Trump's banning, one of Musk's close associates said that the Tesla CEO "vehemently" disagreed with Trump's censoring, calling the move, "insane," according to the Wall Street Journal.

So far Trump has only ever said he would not return to Truth Social, even if his account is unbanned. However, he has not commented on it publicly recently. "I am not going on Twitter. I am going to stay on Truth," Trump told WHD News in April. "I hope Elon buys Twitter because he’ll make improvements to it, and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on Truth."

The head of Truth Social, Devin Nunes, refuted a viral post that circulated around Twitter on Thursday in which purported to be from Trump congratulating Musk on the acquisition and claiming he had been told his account would be back up and running by Monday.

"LOL! Left wing desperation for @realDonaldTrump to go back to Titter. #deepfakes #FakeNews," Nunes wrote.

Trump was active on Truth Social when Musk formally took the reigns of Twitter, giving some midterm endorsements, but has not commented publicly on the purchase as of press time.

Trump was long known for his prolific Twitter use, both before and throughout his presidency, garnering a follower count of 80 million at the time of his ban. While he may have more freedom to post what he liked on Truth Social, he has far less of a reach, sporting just 4.37 million followers on the alternative tech platform.

The White House has reportedly signaled enthusiasm about a possible Trump return to Twitter, with official believing that it will help their electoral chances in a potential 2024 rematch.

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"White House officials are cheering for — a number of them told me this over the weekend — that if Elon Musk indeed takes Twitter, they hope the first thing he does is put Donald Trump back on it," Politico's White House bureau chief, Jonathan Lemire, said on MSNBC's Morning Joe in May.