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Harriet Brewis
Nov 20, 2022
Donald Trump suggests he would not return to Twitter if Elon Musk …
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The Donald is back on Twitter.
Or rather, he can be if he wants to.
Elon Musk has just reversed the ban that ended Trump’s neverending tweet-tirades and typos after putting the decision to “the people” via a poll.
The interesting plot twist? That the results of the survey were basically identical to that of the 2016 Brexit referendum.
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Asked to decide whether or not the ex-president’s Twitter account should be restored, the “yes”s won 51.8 per cent of the vote, while “no” fell just short on 48.2 per cent.
Compare that with the UK’s decision to leave the European Union eight years ago: 51.9 per cent voted to remain in the EU; 48.1 per cent voted to leave.
And we all know how that turned out…
Or rather, we don’t, because the saga is largely ongoing.
Publishing the results of his poll, in which more than 15 million users participated, Musk announced early on Sunday: “The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” – the latter is a Latin phrase meaning “the voice of the people, the voice of God”.
Here’s how fellow Twitter users responded to the outcome and its bizarre link to Brexit:
\u201cElon Musk just ran a poll to reinstate Trump on Twitter.\n52% yes, 48% No.\nRemind me, what were the Brexit results? \ud83e\udd14\nAnd how did that work out? \ud83d\ude2c\ud83d\ude44\ud83d\ude02\u201d— Parody Mc Parody (official) (@Parody Mc Parody (official)) 1668909820
\u201cMusk reinstates Trump on 52-48 majority. \n\nThose cursed percentages YET AGAIN \ud83d\ude1f.\n\n#trumpisback #Brexit\u201d— A.V. Deggar (@A.V. Deggar) 1668919037
\u201cBrexit Referndum: 52% to 48%\n\nUS 2016 Election: 46.1% to 48.2%\n\nElon Musk Poll on Trump reinstatement: 52% to 48%\n\nI feel like for such detrimental decisions, those results are not decisive enough. A bare majority is not significant enough. Maybe Democracy means more than +50%.\u201d— Kalum Rock (@Kalum Rock) 1668909041
\u201cElon Musk's Twitter.\n\nLike Brexit all over again.\n\nAnd we all know how fucking well that went, don't we.\u201d— we love all that (@we love all that) 1668866416
Trump has since responded to the vote, not on Twitter but during a discussion at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual leadership meeting.
Asked if he would be making a triumphant return to his old online stomping ground, the MAGA commander-in-chief replied: "I don't see any reason for it.”
He said he would stick with his new platform Truth Social, the app developed by his Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) startup, which he said had better user engagement than Twitter and was doing "phenomenally well".
(It's not, by the way.)
Shortly after Musk’s announcement, Trump's account reappeared on the social media platform, and while it still had over 1.2million followers, it was not following any other users.
The former US leader's last tweet was posted on January 9 2021, reading: “To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.”
All of his former tweets also reappeared when the account was reinstated – more than 59,000 of them.
Good luck to anyone who decides to go through them. Rather you than us...
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