Following the news that Twitter is appointing Tesla CEO Elon Musk to its board of directors, the hashtag #bringbacktrump started trending on the platform.
Former President Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter in 2021, just 11 days before he left office, and two days after the Capitol insurrection.
“After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” Twitter said in a statement at the time.
Related: Just when we didn’t think things could get worse for Truth Social, this happened…
Musk, meanwhile, has been a constant fixture on Twitter, and also one of its biggest critics. In addition to posting corporate updates, memes, and important messages like “Oh hi lol”, he’s also complained about free speech on the platform.
On Monday, he announced via an SEC filing that he’d purchased a 9.2 percent stake in the company, making him Twitter’s largest individual shareholder.
He also said, on Twitter of course, that he’d be using his new influence to push for “significant improvements.”
Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2022
That led some users who apparently miss Trump’s brand of Twitter derangement to lobby for his return.
Hey @elonmusk it's simple #BringBackTrump
Remove all the TDS crazy liberal snowflake executives @Twitter— Vince Langman (@LangmanVince) April 5, 2022
But it took roughly zero seconds for the hashtag to veer in a slightly different direction. Here’s what these users want to “bring back Trump” for:
#BringBackTrump to stand trial for #January6th. #TrumpIsACriminal #TrumpCoupAttempt pic.twitter.com/2MaljUmS4R
— MixedDem (@MixedDem) April 5, 2022
#BringBackTrump and give him another cognitive assessment to see if he can look at these 6 photos and tell which ones depict a weak person. You can remove the color if you want him to have some challenge. pic.twitter.com/3VQUBKovlI
— #DonaldTrumpBlockedMe (@ExhumeFredTrump) April 5, 2022
#BringBackTrump so he can whine on Twitter since Trump's Truth Social failed. pic.twitter.com/lf5t9bNh0P
— Health Informaticist (@AnalystHealth) April 4, 2022
#BringBackTrump in handcuffs and leg irons. pic.twitter.com/SBo6D1PArg
— Harry Turtledove (@HNTurtledove) April 5, 2022
I would fully support reinstating Trump's Twitter account IF he is convicted and sent to prison as he should be.
I would love to read his incoherent rambling tweets about how miserable his life is in prison.
— Ex-GOP (@DLPodcaster) April 5, 2022
#BringBackTrump
To the courts, for his treason, then prosecute & punish him to the ultimate FULLEST extent of the law. pic.twitter.com/X7BvTsedeK— TheHarshTruth (@TheHarshFacts) April 4, 2022
#BringBackTrump! He autographed bibles so I want him to autograph this book I bought from Barnes and Noble! pic.twitter.com/uKWX6f0SVN
— Health Informaticist (@AnalystHealth) April 5, 2022
#BringBackTrump in front of Congress to answer about the 7 hours of missing phone logs on January 6th
— ?????? Christopher Zullo (@ChrisJZullo) April 5, 2022
#BringBackTrump Rikers Island has some joints free. pic.twitter.com/u01LvrvCV4
— PatGarrett_77?? (@77Patgarrett) April 5, 2022
Prax07
I don’t use Twitter, but I’d hope if they do allow him back on that anyone with any decency would close their own accounts in protest. Won’t happen, but nice to imagine.
ZzBomb
The best thing Twitter ever did for anyone was permanently suspend Trump’s account.
jt1990
I always found his comments entertaining. Twitter probably had way fewer people log on when Trump was banned.
martyvl
jt990
You are one of the very few who found anything remotely entertaining about tRUMP’s tweets. A true measure of your intellect.
PubicHairus
Some people find monster truck rallies entertaining, too! I bet the Venn diagram overlaps a teensy bit.
Kangol2
Suspending and then banning that lying sack of offal Don the Con was one of the best things Twitter did.
Since then (according to several sites like (omicronagency, backlinkinfo, etc.):
— 23% of US adults are on Twitter
— 42% of Canadian adults are on Twitter
— Twitter has a minimum of 206 million daily active users with steady growth year-over-year
— Twitter has roughly 396.2 total million users
— Twitter brought in $5.08 billion in revenue (in 2021)
— Twitter is the most popular social network in the US, India, Japan & Germany
No right-wing social media app (including Don the Con’s newest debacle Truth Social, etc.) has Twitter’s reach. None comes close.