Democrats lamented the reinstatement of former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account over the weekend, with Rep. Adam Schiff calling the move “a terrible mistake.”
The California lawmaker noted Trump used Twitter to encourage his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“As we showed in the Jan. 6 hearings, the president used that platform to incite that attack on the Capitol. His comments about the vice president — his own vice president — put Mike Pence’s life in danger,” Schiff said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
After Twitter banned Trump in the wake of the Jan. 6 siege, Elon Musk on Saturday announced the ex-president would be welcome back on the platform — the latest in Musk’s series of erratic moves at the helm of the influential social media firm.
“The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated,” Musk tweeted, adding a Latin phrase meaning, “The voice of the people is the voice of God.”
While the billionaire indicated that he’d based his decision on results of a Twitter poll, Schiff noted that Musk previously promised careful consideration of whether to reinstate Trump.
“It just underscores the erratic leadership of Twitter now under Musk, but also the security concerns, with security people fleeing Twitter and what that means for the protection of Americans’ private data,” said the congressman, noting the exodus of staffers since Musk took over Twitter late last month.
Republicans have celebrated Musk’s decision, though Trump was yet to resume tweeting as of Sunday afternoon.
“2023 is going to be great. 2024 will be better,” Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, tweeted about the news.
Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee greeted the ex-president with the statement, “Welcome back, @realDonaldTrump!”
____
