On Friday, former US President Donald Trump posted to YouTube and Facebook, returning to the tech platforms that he used to power his political rise until he was disconnected after the attack on Congress on January 6, 2021.
His Facebook and YouTube posts, titled “I’M BACK!,” feature a CNN video declaring Trump the winner of the 2016 presidential election over Hillary Clinton. The screen transitions to a “Trump 2024” graphic.
In the video, Trump apologises for the delay.
YouTube, owned by Alphabet Inc., brought back Trump’s channel early on Friday. In January of this year, Meta Platforms Inc. brought Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts back online.
Elon Musk, Twitter’s new owner, restored Trump’s account in November, but the president still hasn’t made a tweet.
Trump’s use of social media propelled his unlikely 2016 presidential campaign. As he prepares to run for president again in 2024, his return gives him access to key vehicles for political fundraising, allowing him to reach a total of 146 million followers across three major tech platforms.
YouTube said in a tweet that it decided to reinstate his account after “carefully evaluating the continued risk of real-world violence,” balancing the opportunity for voters to hear equally from major national candidates before an election.
An immediate response from Trump’s campaign team was not received.
After Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in 2020 as Congress was certifying Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election, YouTube banned him in 2021 for violating its policy of inciting violence.
Trump’s nearly 5 million followers on the social media platform he founded in late 2021, Truth Social, are cited by those who are against his return as proof that he continues to pose the same risk that led to his suspensions.
The return of Donald Trump to social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook coincides with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office considering criminal charges related to hush-money payments made to a porn star during Trump’s 2016 campaign, charges that Trump and his allies argue, without evidence, are politically motivated.
New York state has also filed a $250 million civil fraud lawsuit against Trump, alleging a decade-long scheme to inflate the value of more than 200 of Trump’s assets and his net worth in order to negotiate more favorable terms with banks and insurers. Donald Trump has claimed that this lawsuit is an attempt to get at him personally.
