With Twitter being purchased by billionaire Elon Musk this week, U.S. Sen. John Barrasso told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday that former President Donald Trump will likely have his account reinstated.
On Monday, it was announced Musk, who also is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, would purchase the social media giant for $44 billion.
Although Trump was banned from Twitter more than a year ago in the wake of the U.S. Capitol riot, Barrasso said he believes Musk will allow for more open conversation as the new owner.
“Twitter has a history of unfairly censoring conservatives,” Barrasso said. “I expect Elon Musk will open the marketplace of ideas to more inclusive points of view, including President Trump’s.”
However, even if his account is reinstated, Trump has said he will not go back to the platform. Since his removal from Twitter, Trump has used a variety of other platforms to get his messages across, using his website in recent months.
“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.”
Truth Social is a startup social media platform that has seen a turbulent time since its launch earlier this year.
Trump’s Twitter account was suspended days after the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and the company said its actions stemmed from concerns the account could be used to incite violence.
Trump was also banned from Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat after the Twitter removal, with all of the companies pointing to his alleged role in inciting the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump had more than 100 million followers on Twitter before his account was banned and he was known as a prolific user of the platform.
U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis this week welcomed Musk’s buyout of the social media company.
“Social media is long overdue for some change,” Lummis said Monday. “Elon Musk has floated a number of ideas, and I’m interested in seeing how those changes impact the dialogue on social media and the protection of user privacy.”
