Ahead of his proposed return to the White House, former President Donald Trump is looking to regain access to his social media accounts— a development that has his followers excited.
The presidential aspirant has confirmed that his campaign has petitioned Facebook’s parent company Meta in a bid to unblock his Facebook account.
Trump is preparing to return to Twitter and Facebook. Trump’s campaign has formally asked Meta for reinstatement.
— PBD Podcast (@PBDsPodcast) January 18, 2023
While some have speculated that Trump would threaten to sue, he did not but instead asked for a meeting with Meta in order to discuss his reinstatement.
Facebook, along with Twitter, banned Trump from its platform after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on Capitol Hill. The platform, standing tall among social media platforms with the most users, had placed a limited ban on Trump’s account for two years. Starting Jan. 7, the Facebook ban is meant to be up for review, according to the company, and with talks of reinstating, Meta might give the former president access to his account again.
Trump really could use his heavily-followed accounts in his journey to becoming president of the United States once again. He boasts a following of about 34 million on Facebook and close to 88 million on Twitter, placing him ahead of President Joe Biden, who has a little over 29 million followers on Twitter.
Twitter has already reinstated his account in November under new owner Elon Musk, but that would not be enough, with Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung telling Fox News that Facebook is critical for the campaign’s data operation, such as fundraising and the creation of awareness.
“Free speech is an essential part of democracy, and President Trump must be allowed to speak directly to the American people so they can be informed about his vision as they cast their ballot,” Cheung stated.
Donald Trump returning to Twitter & Facebook would not just be a great thing for the social media platforms, but it would also be GREAT for our country.
The people deserve to hear from President @realDonaldTrump!
— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) January 18, 2023
It would seem that Meta would also benefit from Trump’s return to Facebook, as he told Fox News on Wednesday that the platform needs him and his campaign more than they need it.
Trump considers his ban from Facebook and Twitter a “major business mistake” as he revealed that his absence on Facebook caused the platform to suffer a loss of $700 billion.
“If they took us back, it would help them greatly, and that’s okay with me. But they need us more than we need them,” he stated.
