Commentary

Poll: Should @realDonaldTrump Have Been Reinstated Based On Results Of A Poll?

by Joe Mandese @mp_joemandese, November 22, 2022

Following Elon Musk's decision to reinstate @realDonaldTrump's account after conducting a Twitter poll and proclaiming it was both the voice of the people, as well as the voice of God, I figured I'd run my own poll.

Musk's currently is trending 51.8% "yes" vs. 48.2% "no" based on more than 15 million votes.

So far, my poll is trending 25% "yes" vs. 75% "no," with decidedly less votes.

If you'd like to cast yours here, I'll follow up with some MediaPost coverage of the findings.

Should @elonmusk have reinstated @realDonaldTrump based on the results of a Twitter poll?
— Joe Mandese (@jmandese) November 21, 2022

cause-related, politics, social media, twitter

2 comments about "Poll: Should @realDonaldTrump Have Been Reinstated Based On Results Of A Poll?".

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Kenny Kurtz from Persuasion Marketing And Media, November 22, 2022 at 8:40 p.m.
Can't think of a dumber follow-up poll. The only question worth asking, or answering is whether Trump deserves to be reinstated on Twitter, or not. Musk didn't need to democratize this. He owns Twitter, and can reinstate anybody, at any time, without a poll. It's his prerogative, whether it's based on a poll, or not. That 75% of your peeps don't think that Trump should be back on Twitter is a foregone conclusion, whether it was via Twitter poll, or Musk's seat of the pants decision making...
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Bob Guccione, Jr from WONDERLUST, November 26, 2022 at 12:56 p.m.

I find Trump disgusting --- and I say that with authority, having known him for 20+ years until I finally shook his cloying, social-climbing grasp (but not before publishing a piece by him in Gear in 2000 about why he should be President... Oh, God.) --- but I vote yes, absolutely let him be reinstalled. His opinions aren't going to change, his most ardent followers --- he is, basically, a cult --- will still slobber all over his mysoginist, racist, narcissitic rantings, but let's trust everyone else to be strong enough to be exposed to this garbage and not fall under its spell.

It isn't censorship for twitter, or any publisher or platform or laundromat bulletin board to not publish someone or something. But it is against the principle of free speech to remove someone from a platform where other, "sanctioned" opinions are freely distributed. It's intellectually wrong to parse between opinions and for someone (who we didn't make hall monitor incidentally) to decide what's acceptable and not. Let each individual decide for themsellves!

Lenny Bruce once said, in a powerful standup routine in which he used the N word dozens of times, to make his point, that a word's suppression gives it its power. He said that in 1962 I think. Sixty years later its exponentially more true.