Here's How Elon Musk's Twitter Deal Could Sway The Midterm Elections
When Donald Trump was on Twitter, he had an astonishing 80 million-plus followers (via The Washington Post). Of course, in January of 2021, the former president was permanently suspended from the social site due to fears he would incite more violence following the insurrection at the Capitol, a decision that was fully explained on the Twitter blog.
Since being banned from Twitter, Trump did what we'd expect and formed his own spin-off, Truth Social. But the platform hasn't picked up steam as quickly as the conservative may have hoped, with reports that the future of Truth Social is in jeopardy having made headlines in recent months.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk has opined that if he were to buy Twitter, he'd reverse the choice to kick the controversial would-be 2024 presidential candidate off the site for good (via NPR). But a July negotiation for the billionaire to purchase Twitter fell through, prompting some anti-Trumpers to breathe a sigh of relief (via BBC).
Now, their fears that Trump may gain access to Twitter have been renewed as Musk is once again poised to take control of the app that has roughly 330 million users worldwide — and just in time for the midterm elections (via Statista).
Donald Trump swears he wouldn't rejoin Twitter — but do we really believe him?
Elon Musk's $44 billion acquisition of Twitter is in the final stages of going through according to Yahoo! Finance. One aspect of the deal that has some people feeling jittery is that if the South African entrepreneur does take over the widely-used social site, Donald Trump is likely to regain his ability to tweet to his heart's content.
According to CNN Business, the Republican has claimed he would stick with Truth Social rather than rejoin Twitter, but since Trump only has 4.15 million followers on his platform, it's only natural to wonder if he would also resume his Twitter addiction if given the opportunity.
The timing, which could see Musk installed as Twitter's top boss within weeks, is of particular concern to anti-Trumpers, since the midterm elections are only a month away. It's worth noting that according to Brookings, it's still unclear how much influence the GOP leader will have on the outcome of these contests.