(Headline USA) Twitter CEO Elon Musk predicted on Wednesday that the Biden administration might “weaponize” federal agencies against Twitter to keep former President Donald Trump from returning to the platform.
Responding to a report that Trump is planning to get back on Twitter now that his account has been reinstated, Musk said, “Will be interesting to see how the Biden administration reacts to this. They may try to weaponize federal agencies against Twitter.”
Will be interesting to see how the Biden administration reacts to this.
They may try to weaponize Federal agencies against Twitter.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 18, 2023
NBC News reported that Trump’s team is plotting his return to social media, sending a letter to Facebook’s parent company, Meta, last week asking for Trump’s reinstatement.
“We believe that the ban on President Trump’s account on Facebook has dramatically distorted and inhibited the public discourse,” Trump’s team wrote, adding that the former president would be happy to host a “meeting to discuss President Trump’s prompt reinstatement to the platform.”
Trump’s team has also begun drafting tweets for the former president.
“Trump is probably coming back to Twitter. It’s just a question of how and when,” a source familiar with Trump’s thinking told NBC News. “He’s been talking about it for weeks, but Trump speaks for Trump, so it’s anyone’s guess what he’ll do or say or when.”
Though the Biden administration has not publicly commented on Musk’s reinstatement of Trump’s Twitter account, administration officials have been privately worried about the matter for months.
“Now, Trump will use Twitter to do far more damage to regain power in 2022 and 2024 while Elon Musk has given no indication that he will do anything to stop him,” Mary Anne Marsh, a veteran Democratic strategist, told CNBC.
Trump, for his part, has not confirmed whether he plans to return to Twitter. He previously dismissed the idea of going back to the platform, saying he would stick with his own social media platform, Truth Social.
“I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on TRUTH,” Trump told Fox News last year. “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.”
