SpaceX founder Elon Musk looks on after being recognized by former President Donald Trump at NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building. Photo: Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Elon Musk launched a 24-hour poll on his own Twitter feed Friday night asking whether or not he would reinstate former President Trump on the social media platform.
Why it matters: Since taking over the company, there has been a lot of interest in whether or not Musk would allow Trump to return to Twitter after a nearly two-year absence.
Details: Musk’s new Twitter poll had a simple “yes” or “no” vote on whether former President Trump should be reinstated.
- Musk responded in his own tweet Friday night, saying, “Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” which is a Latin phrase meaning “the voice of the people is the voice of God.”
- By the time the poll closed at 7:47 PM ET on Saturday, the poll had accumulated more than 15 million votes. The final tally was 52% to 48% in favor of reactivating Trump’s Twitter account.
- Musk said the poll was getting 1 million votes per hour.
On Friday, Musk said Twitter would de-emphasize “hateful” or “negative” tweets and had reinstated some accounts, including Kathy Griffin, Jordan Peterson and The Babylon Bee.
- He said at the time that no decision had been made on Trump.
Context: Musk has previously used informal polls to curry favor with plans he planned to implement anyway, Axios’ Hope King writes.
Flashback: Trump was suspended in response to the “risk of further incitement to violence,” the company said at the time, according to Axios. The decision came after a pro-Trump mob stormed the US capital to stop the certification of President Biden’s victory.
- When Musk took over Twitter in October, Trump said the social media platform is now in good hands.”
- In April, Trump told Fox News that he would not return to Twitter and would continue to use his own platform, Truth Social.
Deeper: Twitter mess deepens as Musk ultimatum alienates key workers
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include Musk’s final survey totals.