Trump deleted the tweets that got him kicked off Twitter after the Capitol riots, and now he's on course to get his account back
- President Donald Trump has deleted three tweets that got him locked out of his Twitter account on Wednesday.
- Twitter took action against the tweets after pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol building. In one tweet, Trump addressed the rioters, saying: "go home, we love you, you are very special."
- After Trump deleted the tweets, a 12-hour cool-down period began during which he still couldn't tweet. Once that has expired, he will have full access to his account.
President Donald Trump has complied with Twitter's demands that he delete three tweets that violated its rules, after armed rioters stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday.
One of the offending tweets was a video in which Trump addressed the rioters, saying "go home, we love you, you are very special," while also making baseless claims of election fraud. The same video was also removed by Facebook.
Twitter removed the three tweets, replacing them with cards that said: "This Tweet is no longer available."
"This means that the account of @realDonaldTrump will be locked for 12 hours following the removal of these Tweets. If the Tweets are not removed, the account will remain locked," Twitter said in a statement on Wednesday.
Bloomberg was the first to report that Twitter said the tweets had been deleted, starting a 12-hour timer for when Trump can tweet again. A Twitter spokesperson confirmed the deletions to Business Insider on Thursday morning, but did not say when Trump deleted the tweets.
Instead of the tweets, there are cards reading: "This Tweet is no longer available because it violated the Twitter Rules."
Trump will have to tread carefully when he gets control of his account back, as Twitter said in its statement on Wednesday that "repeated violations" of its Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies would result in permanent suspension.
Twitter faced widespread pressure on Wednesday for Trump's account to be permanently banned. Investor and former Reddit CEO Ellen Pao tweeted to "just ban him already. Don't air his dangerous video during a coup where he says he loves the insurrectionists and lies about the election results."
Color of Change, the nonprofit civil rights advocacy group, and other activist groups called for Trump to be banned from both Twitter and Facebook.