Twitter's ban on then-President Donald Trump after the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters was a "serious mistake" that needed to be fixed, Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Friday, though he also added that Incitement to violence will continue to be banned on Twitter.
In a tweet, Musk said, "I am fine with Trump not tweeting. The important thing is that Twitter has corrected the grave mistake of banning his account despite not being in violation of the law or terms of service." "Removing a sitting president undermined public trust in Twitter for half of America."
Last week, Musk announced the reactivation of Trump's account after a slim majority voted in a Twitter poll in favor of reinstating Trump, who, however, said he had no interest in returning to Twitter. He said he would stick with his own social media site, Truth Social, an app developed by Trump Media & Technology Group. Republican Trump, who announced 10 days ago that he was seeking re-election in 2024, was banned from Twitter on January 8, 2021, under its previous owners.
At the time, Twitter said it was permanently suspended due to the risk of further incitement to violence following the storming of the Capitol. The results of the November 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden were being certified by lawmakers when the Capitol was stormed after weeks of false claims by Trump that he had won. Trump has repeatedly used Twitter and other sites to falsely claim widespread voter fraud, and has urged supporters to march on the Capitol in Washington to protest.
The attack is being investigated by US prosecutors and a congressional committee.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday on Musk's statement that Trump did not violate any Twitter terms of service when his account was suspended.