Marjorie Taylor Greene positioning herself to be Trump’s VP pick for 2024
Donald Trump celebrated his return to Facebook and Instagram on Wednesday after parent company Meta announced that its decision to reinstate the former president’s accounts in the “coming weeks”.
In a statement on Truth Social – where he described himself as the “favorite president” despite failing to be elected to a second term – Mr Trump claimed that “such a thing should never again happen to a sitting President, or anybody else who is not deserving of retribution”.
Mr Trump was banned from Facebook and Instagram for two years in the wake of the Januayr 6 Capitol riot.
Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, announced on Wednesday that he can return to the platforms but that there will be new guard rails put in place to “deter repeat offences”.
The decision has divided opinion, with Rep Adam Schiff condemning Facebook for “caving”.
“Trump incited an insurrection. And tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power. He’s shown no remorse. No contrition. Giving him back access to a social media platform to spread his lies and demagoguery is dangerous. @facebook caved, giving him a platform to do more harm,” he tweeted.
‘Ridiculous joke’: Critics respond to Meta’s decision on Trump accounts
Predictably there was a wave of negative responses to the news that Meta was reinstating the former president after banning him two years ago.
Graig Graziosi reports on the reaction to the announcement.
Oliver O’Connell26 January 2023 13:00
It’s OK for leaders to keep state secrets. Just not at home.
The highest US secrets, it now appears, are not necessarily safe with the highest officials. Not when they’re in the hands of Trump, who disdains the rules and customs of government, and not in the hands of Biden and Pence, who subscribe to them.
Namita Singh26 January 2023 12:35
Cruz called out for wildly different reactions to Pence and Biden documents cases
Texas Senator Ted Cruz is being blasted for his two very different reactions to the discoveries of classified documents at the homes of President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence.
Gustaf Kilander reports on the senator’s apparent hypocrisy.
Namita Singh26 January 2023 11:55
Trump mocks Meta in response to decision to reinstate him on Facebook
Donald Trump has reacted to the news of Meta’s decision to reinstate his Facebook and Instagram accounts by posting on Truth Social, his own platform set up following his ban from mainstream social media.
The former president wrote:
FACEBOOK, which has lost Billions of Dollars in value since “deplatforming” your favorite President, me, has just announced that they are reinstating my account. Such a thing should never again happen to a sitting President, or anybody else who is not deserving of retribution! THANK YOU TO TRUTH SOCIAL FOR DOING SUCH AN INCREDIBLE JOB. YOUR GROWTH IS OUTSTANDING, AND FUTURE UNLIMITED!!!
Mr Trump has 4.84 million followers on Truth Social, whereas he had an audience of approximately 34 million on Facebook and 23 million on Instagram.
Namita Singh26 January 2023 11:15
Meta accused of giving Trump ‘platform to do more harm’
Congressman Adam Schiff, a member of the January 6 committee and a sharp critic of Donald Trump, accused the company of giving the former president a “platform to do more harm.”
“Trump incited an insurrection. And tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power,” the California Democrat wrote on Twitter yesterday.
“He’s shown no remorse. No contrition. Giving him back access to a social media platform to spread his lies and demagoguery is dangerous. Facebook caved.”
Namita Singh26 January 2023 10:35
Read Meta’s statement in full
Facebook parent company Meta has announced that former President Donald Trump will be reinstated on Facebook and Instagram, ending a ban on his accounts following the January 6 riot at the US Capitol.
Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, released a statement on the company’s website on Wednesday evening. Read his statement in full:
Namita Singh26 January 2023 09:55
Woman pleads guilty to sending ricin to Trump
A Canadian woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to mailing a threatening letter containing the poison ricin to then-President Donald Trump at the White House.
The letter from Pascale Ferrier directing Trump to “give up and remove your application for this election,” was intercepted at a mail sorting facility in September 2020, before it could reach the White House.
Namita Singh26 January 2023 09:15
DeSantis out-polls Trump as ex-president hosts ‘Libs of Tik Tok’ and Babylon Bee dinner
The Florida governor, who has not yet announced a 2024 campaign, was leading the former president in a straw poll of the North Carolina Faith and Freedom Coalition released yesterday.
The poll is one of the reliable bellwethers for tracking the support of white evangelicals active in Republican Party presidential primaries.
More in this report from my colleague John Bowden:
Namita Singh26 January 2023 08:35
Trump pilloried as ‘4-year-old cheat’ over golf tournament claims
Sportswriter and author Rick Reilly has criticised Donald Trump as a “cheat” after the golf-loving former president claimed victory in a competitive tournament earlier this week – despite missing the first day.
He declared that it was “a great honour” to have won the tournament “[at] one of the best courses in the country”.
Namita Singh26 January 2023 08:13
Meta’s move to reinstate Trump ‘a disaster’
Letting Donald Trump back on Facebook sends a signal to other figures with large online audiences that they may break the rules without lasting consequences, said Heidi Beirich, founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism and a member of a group called the Real Facebook Oversight Board that has criticised the platform’s efforts.
“I am not surprised but it is a disaster,” Ms Beirich said of Meta’s decision. “Facebook created loopholes for Trump that he went right through. He incited an insurrection on Facebook. And now he’s back.”
NAACP president Derrick Johnson blasted the decision as “a prime example of putting profits above people’s safety” and a “grave mistake”.
Former US president Donald Trump greets people as he arrives for a New Years event at his Mar-a-Lago home on 31 December 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida
(Getty Images)
“It’s quite astonishing that one can spew hatred, fuel conspiracies, and incite a violent insurrection at our nation’s Capitol building, and Mark Zuckerberg still believes that is not enough to remove someone from his platforms,” he said.
Namita Singh26 January 2023 07:55