Former US President Donald Trump on Friday made a comeback to his YouTube and Facebook accounts by uploading fresh videos and announcing his return to the social media sites which he had used for his political campaigns and his ‘Great America’ speeches.
With an “I’M BACK!” caption on both his Facebook and YouTube accounts, he uploaded a video which features him saying to his supporters, “Sorry to keep you waiting, complicating business”. In the video, he apologizes to his fans for keeping them waiting. His last post on Facebook was made on 7 January 2021, a day after the Capitol Hill siege was made by his supporters. After his posts about the same on Facebook and other sites, his social media accounts were banned.
Earlier on Friday, YouTube, owned by Alphabet Inc., restored Trump’s account. Earlier this year, Meta Platforms Inc restored Trump’s Facebook and Instagram profiles. Trump hasn’t posted anything on Twitter since Elon Musk, the site’s new proprietor, restored his account in November.
“We carefully evaluated the continued risk of real-world violence, while balancing the chance for voters to hear equally from major national candidates in the run up to an election,” said YouTube via tweet, while talking about its move to restore his account.
After Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol as Congress was certifying Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 presidential election, YouTube banned Trump in 2021 for breaking its policy against inciting violence.
For his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump’s tool was social media to ramp up his support. Now, for his 2024 presidential campaign he would be able to address a total of 146 million followers across three social media accounts, now that he has returned.
In January, a representative for his campaign stated to US-based Fox News Digital that returning to Facebook “will be an important tool for the 2024 campaign to reach voters.”
During his suspension from Twitter and Meta, the former president relied on his own social media platform, Truth Social, which he established in late 2021. Trump’s detractors claim that his posts on Truth Social, where he has close to 5 million followers, show that he still represents the same danger that caused his suspensions.
