Elon Musk Blasted for Michael Flynn's Jan. 6 Twitter Reinstatement

Elon Musk is taking heat for reinstating far-right favorite Michael Flynn to Twitter on the second anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Flynn, a retired Army general and ex-national security adviser to former President Donald Trump, returned to the platform on Friday. His account had been permanently banned two days after Trump supporters violently stormed the Capitol in an ill-fated attempt to stop the certification of President Joe Biden's 2020 presidential election victory.

Leading up to the Capitol attack, Flynn was one of the most prominent supporters of false claims that the contest had been "stolen" by Biden. Flynn was also a prominent proponent of the pro-Trump QAnon conspiracy theory, repeating and praising the related "where we go one we go all" slogan and making references to the debunked theory on Twitter. He thanked Musk for his return to the platform.

"I want to personally thank @elonmusk for all he is doing to help protect our basic human rights, especially our freedom of speech," Flynn tweeted Friday after being reinstated. "And thanks for allowing me back on @Twitter. To all who offered their strong voices of support to bring me back, thank you! God Bless America [U.S. flag emoji] !"

An avalanche of Twitter users lashed out at Musk for the timing of the reinstatement. Since taking over the platform in October, the billionaire has been repeatedly accused of pushing a right-wing bias despite claiming to be a champion for neutrality and "free speech."

"ZERO coincidence that Twitter restored Misha [Russian flag] Flynn's account today, January 6, of all days," tweeted Dena Grayson, physician and former Democratic candidate for Congress.

"Mike Flynn's Twitter account has been reinstated. Why hasn't this triator been tried and sent to prison for treason yet, let alone being reactivated on this hell site," political opinion writer and self-described "former Trump supporter" David Weissman tweeted.

"It's no coincidence that Elon Musk reinstated the Twitter account of traitor QAnon psycho General Flynn on 1/6," tweeted The USA Singers.

"Michael Flynn was reinstated on Twitter on the 2nd anniversary of January 6th," attorney and activist Alejandra Caraballo tweeted. "This is no accident."

"Musk's trickle-back of the high profile extremists continues with Mike Flynn," tweeted University of Toronto disinformation researcher John Scott-Railton. "Of course, Flynn will try to hijack the conversation all over again. You can help prevent that by not Quote Tweeting or Replying."

"Today is January 6 --- 2yrs ago today, insurrectionists attacked the U.S. Capitol," tweeted Charles Lister, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. "To mark the anniversary, @elonmusk appears to have reinstated one of the insurrection's most notorious supporters & all-round conspiracy theorist: Gen. Michael Flynn."

"What a slap in the face to all those police officers that were injured & traumatized 2 years ago today defending our capitol & our democracy," @Suezm1 tweeted. "Musk is trash & Flynn is a Christofascist traitor to this country."

Some of those criticizing Musk for the reinstatement pointed out that Flynn had advocated for the use of force to overturn Trump's 2020 loss, shortly before Trump supporters attempted to forcefully overturn the loss by storming the Capitol.

Weeks before the Capitol attack, Flynn met with Trump at the White House and urged him to seize election machines and order the military to force new elections in states that he lost, according to the Associated Press.

"Elon Musk seems to have chosen the second anniversary of the January 6th attack to restore the Twitter account of retired general, election denier, conspiracy pusher, and martial law supporter Michael Flynn," MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan tweeted. "Classy."

Flynn's account was reinstated only hours after Trump confidante Roger Stone tagged Musk in a plea to reinstate the retired general.

"@GenFynn has been locked out of his Twitter page since 2020. Can see- can't post. Please @elonmusk reinstate General Michael Flynn," Stone tweeted on Friday morning.

The reinstatement also came one day after Flynn appeared on the right-wing Man in America podcast and mentioned that he would like to return to the platform to respond to critics.

During the appearance, Flynn denounced former federal prosecutor and popular Twitter user Ron Filipkowski, who has frequently criticized both him and Musk.

Newsweek has reached out to Twitter and Musk for comment.