Claim
Former US President Donald Trump issues a statement congratulating Elon Musk on his purchase of Twitter.
“…I have been told that my account will be back up and running on Monday – we will see,” reads his statement.
Rating
Explanation
Elon Musk has taken over Twitter recently in a $44 billion deal. Following this, a statement claiming to be issued by Donald Trump says he has been told that his Twitter account will be back and running on Monday (31st October), and is widely shared on social media platforms. Such claims can be seen here and here.
What is the truth?
The statement dated 27/10/2022 read as follows: 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!
ANI also shared the statement on Twitter and later retracted the tweet mentioning it as fake.
Tweet retracted. No statement from Donald Trump on Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has been released. This was a fake statement circulating. Error regretted. pic.twitter.com/PkLm6UtqRj
— ANI (@ANI) October 28, 2022
When we ran a keyword search on Twitter, it yielded multiple tweets that says the statement is fake.
Zachary Petrizzo, Reporter at Daily Beast shared a screenshot of the statement mentioned by Dinesh D’Souza and said it is a fake Trump press release.
Shayan Sardarizadeh, Journalist at BBC tweeted that Mr. Trump has issued no such statement. Several other media personalities around the world clarified that the statement is fake.
Moreover, no statement is seen on Trump’s website where he usually releases any statement.
Conclusion
The statement claimed to be issued by Trump to congratulate Elon Musk on taking over Twitter and that he will get his Twitter handle back by Monday is fake.
