Tesla CEO and Twitter owner, Elon Musk, took to the platform on Saturday and called the “deplatforming” of former United States President Donald Trump from the micro-blogging platform a “grave mistake”. Subsequently, when asked if he would support Florida governor Ron DeSantis’ candidacy for the upcoming 2024 presidential elections, if he decides to run, Musk said “Yes”.
This comes a week after Musk reinstated Trump’s account on the microblogging platform following a Twitter poll. However, the former president said he was not interested in returning to and would stick with his social media app, Truth Social, which was developed by Trump Media and Technology Group.
“I’m fine with Trump not tweeting. The important thing is that Twitter correct a grave mistake in banning his account, despite no violation of the law or terms of service,” said Musk. He added, “Deplatforming a sitting President undermined public trust in Twitter for half of America.”
Notably, the former president’s account was permanently suspended at the risk of further incitement of violence after his followers had stormed the US Capitol on January 6, last year. Prior to the incident, Trump had repeatedly used the microblogging app to interact with his followers and on that day urged them to march to the Capitol in Washington to protest.
At the time, lawmakers at the Capitol were in the midst of certifying incumbent president and Democrat Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 presidential elections, the results of which Trump did not accept and claimed widespread voter fraud. The attack is currently being investigated by a congressional committee as well as US prosecutors.
Furthermore, when asked if Musk would support the Republican Florida governor Ron DeSantis if he decides to run for president in 2024, he said “Yes”. Notably, this comes days after Trump announced his candidacy for the upcoming presidential elections and DeSantis is seen as a potential challenger to the former president.
“My preference for the 2024 presidency is someone sensible and centrist. I had hoped that would the case for the Biden administration, but have been disappointed so far,” said Musk, in a tweet. He added, “As a reminder, I was a significant supporter of the Obama-Biden presidency and (reluctantly) voted for Biden over Trump.”
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