After Elon Musk bought the platform

Trump will turn the scales of American politics if he returns to Twitter

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After Elon Musk bought Twitter, conservative Fox News host Tucker Carlson returned to the platform on Monday, posting a simple tweet saying, "We're back."

With Musk calling for more "freedom of expression" on Twitter, the next question is: How long will it take before the popular site restores former President Donald Trump's account, too?

Twitter suspended his account permanently, two days after the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, due to concerns that his tweets to his 88 million followers, may carry the risk of "further incitement to violence."

Trump then praised his supporters who stormed the Capitol, spreading lies that the 2020 election had been stolen, and that then-Vice President Mike Pence had the power to reverse legitimate results.

At that time, Trump was also banned from using YouTube and Facebook.

When Trump was banned from Twitter, he resorted to emailing press releases and trying to launch his own social media platform.

In conjunction with his exit from the Oval Office, Trump has largely lost his unique ability to manipulate the news cycle with a single tweet.

If Trump is allowed to return to Twitter, under Musk's ownership, one of the most powerful accounts the platform has ever hosted will be reactivated.

He will have a greater ability to control the news again, mobilize his followers and detractors alike, and exert significant influence over the midterm and presidential elections of 2024.

I'm not going

"I'm not going to Twitter, I'm going to stay on TruthSocial," Trump told Fox News after he offered to buy Twitter for $44 billion. Sushil » in building an audience.

Given the power he once wielded on Twitter as president, Trump has used his account to stoke division, spread misinformation, insult opponents, inform his government of political decisions he made, pressure prosecutors to punish his political enemies, and reprimand the judges who have ruled against his allies.

No one has had as much influence on the social media platform as when Trump was on Twitter, says Licia Palin, a professor of information sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Palin worked with a team of researchers to study how Trump uses the site, and to track the way his tweets resonate.

And whenever Trump tweeted, he would “crush” the online discussion on any topic, says Palin, because of his large number of followers and retweets.

And when Trump tweets, “It makes the information world we depend on lose even more reliability, even weirder,” says Palin.

Trump's influence on Twitter can also be seen in the upcoming elections, experts say.

Unlike other platforms, Twitter gave the former president access to a large portion of his base “at any moment, at any time, day or night,” says Kathleen Jamison, director of the Center for Public Policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

And if the platform decides to completely re-account Trump with his list of followers, he will have instant access to large numbers of people, who have already shown an interest in him.

This is very valuable in political communications, says Jamieson. “If he wants to intervene on behalf of a candidate he has now endorsed in the midterm elections, being able to reach that number of people with messages in support of those candidates is a key way to get Free advertisement.

Returning to Twitter may help Trump reconnect with his base, but others argue that there may also be a backlash, as Trump can mobilize those who disagree with him.

Trump's presence on Twitter could be a "gift" for President Joe Biden "because when Trump tweets, he says things that alienate a lot of people," says Lauren Wright, a professor of political science at Princeton University, who sees a return to Twitter. You'd give Trump another megaphone, but given how famous he is already, it could bring him marginal benefit, and could lead to more backlash.

"He keeps saying these things that most Americans don't agree with, so it may not be good for him," Wright adds.

Since he was banned from the site, Trump has used press releases and rallies to get his message across, criticized investigators looking into his financial dealings, and promoted candidacies of politicians willing to re-publish his lies about "election fraud."

He also used his presidential title to promote his properties, and praised himself for a successful shot on the golf course.

And these may be more signs of what might happen if Trump decides to tweet again.

• If Trump is allowed to return to Twitter, under Musk's ownership, one of the most powerful accounts the platform has ever hosted will be reactivated.

He will have a greater ability to control the news again, mobilize his followers and detractors alike, and exert significant influence over the midterm and presidential elections of 2024.

• Unlike other platforms, Twitter allowed the former president to access a large part of his base at any moment, at any time, day or night.

• 88 million followers of Trump's account.

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