On Friday, Donald Trump posted on YouTube and Facebook, returning to the platforms that powered his political rise until his followers shut him down following January 6, 2021, attack on Congress.
Donald J Trump posted his first posts on his reinstated Facebook and YouTube accounts Friday, more than two years after he was banned over the US Capitol insurrection. “I’M BACK” accompanied a 12-second video clip of Trump’s victory speech after winning the 2016 election. “Sorry to keep you waiting — complicated business,” he said.
Earlier on Friday, YouTube restored Donald Trump’s channel. Meta Platforms Inc reinstated Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts earlier this year. However, Trump has yet to post on Twitter since its new owner, Elon Musk, reconfigured the platform in November.
A 76-year-old Republican presidential candidate hasn’t posted any content for his 34 million Facebook followers and 2.6 million YouTube subscribers.
Several platforms benched Trump following January 6, 2021, demonstration of his supporters, who stormed the US Capitol to prevent certification of the election results for Joe Biden.
The former president has been reinstated by YouTube two months after Facebook announced that it was unlocking his account following an investigation into his posts that incited unrest.
The use of social media drove Donald Trump’s improbable 2016 presidential campaign. During his 2024 presidential campaign, he will have access to three major tech platforms where he can reach 146 million followers.
According to a tweet from YouTube, the decision to restore his account was based on careful evaluation of the risk of real-world violence and balancing it with the opportunity to hear equally from national candidates leading up to an election. In response to a request for comment, Trump’s campaign team did not respond immediately.
Truth Social
In late 2021, the former president founded his own social media platform, Truth Social, which he used to communicate with supporters during his Twitter and Meta ban.
Trump was banned from YouTube in 2021 after his supporters stormed the Capitol on the night Joe Biden won the 2020 election, which Congress was certifying.
Opponents cite his messages on Truth Social, where he has more than 5 million followers, as evidence that he still poses the same risk as when he was suspended.
During Trump’s 2016 campaign, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office considered criminal charges related to hush money payments made to a porn star, a charge Trump and his allies claim is politically motivated without evidence. Trump returns to YouTube and Facebook as the Manhattan District Attorney investigates these payments.
