Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, said Tuesday that he will lift Twitter’s ban on former US President Donald Trump while speaking at the Financial Times Future of the Car conference.
Musk, who has described himself as a “free speech absolutist,” has agreed to buy the social networking site for $44 billion.
Twitter did not reply quickly to a request for comment.
The suspension of Trump’s account, which had over 88 million followers, muted his major megaphone only days before the end of his presidency and comes after years of discussion over how social media firms should control the accounts of prominent world leaders.
Trump was permanently barred from Twitter immediately after the violence on the US Capitol on January 6. In making its judgment, Twitter cited “the potential of future instigation of violence.”
Musk claimed the decision strengthened his position with individuals on the political right, calling the restriction “morally wrong and flat-out dumb.”
Trump previously told Fox News that he would not return to Twitter even if Musk purchased the platform and reinstated his account and that he would instead use Truth Social, his own social media app that launched on the Apple app store in late February but was glitchy until recently when it began allowing more users in.
A Trump spokeswoman did not respond immediately.
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