Republican political consultant Roger Stone is celebrating his return to Twitter, while saying that "liberal heads are exploding everywhere" due to his reinstatement.
Stone, a close ally and ex-adviser of former President Donald Trump, returned to the platform on Wednesday afternoon following the five-year suspension of his @RogerJStoneJr account. The account had been banned in October 2017 after Stone violated Twitter's terms of service by launching a series of targeted, foulmouthed attacks on reporters.
Stone briefly returned to the platform in April of this year, opening a new account after learning that Elon Musk planned to purchase the platform, only to be suspended again a short time later. After being reinstated on Wednesday, Stone appeared on an episode of his streaming show The Stone Zone to praise Musk for his commitment to "free speech"
"I learned roughly an hour ago that my genuine Twitter page has been reinstated," Stone said. "My thanks go to Elon Musk, who is a man of his word. And who I now believe, based on this act and a number of other acts, is committed to free speech. So, I'm grateful to be back on Twitter."
"Liberal heads are exploding everywhere across the country today," he continued. "I hope others who have been unfairly banned will be restored as well. But I'm grateful today to be back on Twitter."
Stone said that his reinstatement did not mean he would be leaving Trump's Truth Social or several other social media platforms that largely cater to conservatives.
Several other banned accounts of prominent Trump-aligned conservatives, such as MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and "Kraken" attorney Sidney Powell, remained suspended as of Wednesday evening.
Musk announced a general "amnesty" for banned Twitter accounts in a tweet on November 24, following a Twitter poll on whether all suspended accounts that "have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam" should be reinstated.
The move sparked criticism that it could lead to an increase of targeted harassment and hate on the platform.
Users who have had their accounts reinstated under Musk have included neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin, founder of white supremacist website The Daily Stormer, who had been banned since 2013.
Trump's suspended account was reinstated following a separate poll earlier in November, although the former president has not yet tweeted any new content, remaining on Truth Social instead.
Stone said on Wednesday that he remained banned on Facebook, which he said was due to "the entirely false allegation that I had or controlled hundreds of fake profiles."
In 2019, Stone was found guilty of multiple felony counts related to Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. He was pardoned by Trump in December 2020.
Newsweek has reached out to Twitter for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Aila Slisco is a Newsweek night reporter based in New York. Her focus is on reporting national politics, where she ... Read more
