Elon Musk says he will reverse Donald Trump's Twitter ban

The future owner of Twitter called the ban imposed on Trump "morally wrong and flat-out stupid."

Former US president Donald Trump and Elon Musk are seen at the Firing Room Four after the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft on NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US May 30, 2020 (photo credit: REUTERS/JONATHAN ERNST)
Former US president Donald Trump and Elon Musk are seen at the Firing Room Four after the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft on NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, US May 30, 2020
(photo credit: REUTERS/JONATHAN ERNST)

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said Tuesday he would reverse Twitter's ban on former US president Donald Trump, while speaking at the Financial Times Future of the Car conference.

Musk, who has called himself a "free speech absolutist," recently inked a $44 billion deal to acquire the social media platform.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The suspension of Trump’s account, which had more than 88 million followers, silenced his primary megaphone days before the end of his term and follows years of debate about how social media companies should moderate the accounts of powerful global leaders.

Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter shortly after the January 6 riot on the US Capitol. Twitter cited "the risk of further incitement of violence" in its decision.

 A CASE in point is the decision to block US president Donald Trump from platforms like Twitter. (credit: Joshua Roberts/Illustration/File/Reuters)
A CASE in point is the decision to block US president Donald Trump from platforms like Twitter. (credit: Joshua Roberts/Illustration/File/Reuters)

The decision amplified his views among people on the political right, Musk said, calling the ban "morally wrong and flat-out stupid."

Trump previously told Fox News that he would not return to Twitter even if Musk purchases the platform and reinstates his account, and said he would use his own social media app called Truth Social, which launched on the Apple app store in late February but was glitchy until more recently when it began letting more users in.

There was no immediate comment from a Trump spokesperson.