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The American Civil Liberties Union put out a statement Tuesday in which the group applauded Elon Musk for saying he will reinstate former President Donald Trump‘s account if he successfully purchases Twitter.
In a statement attributed to ACLU executive director Anthony D. Romero, the organization said:
You’d be hard-pressed to find a more steadfast opponent of Trump and his policies than the ACLU, but Elon Musk’s decision to re-platform President Trump is the right call. When a handful of individuals possess so much power over the most important forums for political speech, they should exercise that power with restraint. If Trump violates the platform rules again, Twitter should first employ lesser penalties like removing the offending post — rather than banning a political figure.
Like it or not, President Trump is one of the most important political figures in this country, and the public has a strong interest in hearing his speech. Indeed, some of Trump’s most offensive tweets ended up being critical evidence in lawsuits filed against him and his administration. And we should know — we filed over 400 legal actions against him.
The comment was issued after Musk called Trump’s ban on Twitter “morally wrong.”
“I think it was a morally bad decision to be clear and foolish in the extreme,” Musk said during remarks at the Financial Times’ Future of the Car event. “I guess the answer is I would reverse the perma-ban,” when asked about letting Trump back on the social media platform.
“I do think it was not correct to ban Donald trump I think that was a mistake … It alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice,” Musk also said.
The comment set Twitter on fire, but Musk was quickly backed up by former platform CEO Jack Dorsey, who agreed Trump should be reinstated.
Trump has vowed he will not return to the platform, which banned him after the U.S. Capitol was stormed on Jan. 6, 2021.
