An image carrying a statement, purportedly from former United States President Donald Trump, where he claims his Twitter account - which was banned in January 2021 - will be reinstated on Monday, has been viral on the internet shortly after Elon Musk's takeover of the microblogging platform on Friday.
BOOM found this statement to be fabricated; we were unable to find any record of such statement on Trump's website, or on his social media account on Truth Social. A Trump spokesperson also confirmed the same to Associated Press.
The false statement, which was made to appear as a genuine press release by Trump with the "Save America" masthead, read, "Congratulations to Elon Musk on his purchase of Twitter. Many people are saying that change was needed, as the old management was too concerned with the woke agenda. I have been told that my account will be back up and running on Monday - we will see. happy to be able to engage with an African-American owned business."
The fabricated statement was shared widely on both Facebook and Twitter.
Facebook user Raghunath AS shared the image with the caption, "Former US President Donald Trump issues a statement congratulating Elon Musk on his purchase of Twitter."
ANI's White House correspondent Reena Bhardwaj also tweeted out the false statement from her official Twitter account. Click here to view an archive of her tweet.
ANI had also published the statement, but later retracted it, stating that they regretted the error. However, Bharadwaj's tweet carrying the fabricated statement still remained on her Twitter timeline at the time of publishing this article.
Twitter, Trump And Musk - The Facts
Following the Capitol Hill riot on January 6, 2021, Donald Trump's Twitter account was permanently banned - along with his Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat accounts - after he faced allegations of using social media platforms to spread falsehoods that allegedly fuelled the riot. This pushed him to start his own social media platform called Truth Social.
Musk's, controversial $44 billion deal to takeover Twitter is expected to revert the ban, due to the South African-American billionaire having previously stated that he was opposed to permanent bans on the platform.
Shortly after Musk closed the deal on Friday, the former US president put out a statement on Truth Social, which read, "I am very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands, and will no longer be run by Radical Left Lunatics and Maniacs that truly hate our country."
While speaking to Fox News Digital, he wished Musk good luck, and said, ""I am staying on Truth. I like it better, I like the way it works, I like Elon, but I'm staying on Truth."