Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, who's buying Twitter, said Tuesday he would allow former President Donald Trump to return to the social media site.
Musk, speaking virtually at a Future of the Car summit hosted by the Financial Times, said Twitter’s Trump ban was a "morally bad decision" and "foolish in the extreme." He said permanent bans of Twitter accounts should be rare and reserved for accounts that are scams or automated bots.
"I would reverse the ban," he said. "But I don't own Twitter yet."
“I think that was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice," Musk said. “So I think this may end up being frankly worse than having a single forum where everyone can debate. I guess the answer is that I would reverse the permanent ban.”
Twitter banned Trump's account in January 2021 for "incitement of violence" after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Musk added that his distaste for permanent bans is shared by Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey.
Trump previously said he had no intention of rejoining Twitter even if his account was reinstated, saying last month that he would instead focus on his own platform, Truth Social, which has been mired in problems since its launch earlier this year.
"I am not going on Twitter. I am going to stay on Truth," Trump told Fox News. "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."
A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment in response to Musk’s remarks.
This report contains information from Reuters and The Associated Press.
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