August 12th 2024.
Donald Trump is making a comeback to X, the platform that had banned him for nearly two years after the January 6 riots. In just a few hours, he will be doing a live interview, joined by X's owner, Elon Musk. This event has been eagerly anticipated as Musk has described it as a "live conversation" with no limits on subject matter, making it highly entertaining. In fact, Musk has even invited X users to pose their own questions, adding to the excitement of the event.
This interview is not just a means for Trump to reach millions of potential voters directly, but it also serves as an opportunity for X to redeem itself after facing some struggles. X has been at the center of some of the most memorable moments of the 2024 US election cycle, including Trump's counterprogramming of his own appearance during the first GOP presidential debate in August. He instead appeared in a taped interview with former Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson, which aired on X.
Last month, President Joe Biden even announced his departure from the campaign on X. The platform has also been used for other political announcements, such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' presidential bid in May 2023, which was unfortunately marred by technical glitches due to the overwhelming number of participants.
In preparation for Trump's interview, Musk announced that X was conducting system scaling tests to handle the high volume of participants expected. This is not the first time that Musk has used X for political purposes, as he has previously endorsed Trump's candidacy after the former president was wounded during an attempted assassination at a rally.
Musk's political views have become more apparent on the platform, with him showing support for conservative ideals and speaking out against what he calls the "woke mind virus." He has also faced controversy for reinstating banned accounts, such as conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and Trump himself. Trump's account was banned in 2021 after the January 6 violence, but was reinstated in November 2022 when Musk bought the company.
Despite launching his own social media platform, Truth Social, during his ban, Trump's X account still has a much larger following with over 88 million followers compared to his 7.5 million on Truth Social. Musk, who has over 193 million followers on X, will be hosting the interview with Trump and it remains to be seen if Trump will cross-post the interview on his other social media accounts.
As we eagerly await the live interview, Trump has posted a video on his X account featuring footage from his time in office and a message to his supporters. With the interview expected to have a large audience, it is sure to be a highly anticipated and impactful event on X.
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