Former US President Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida on February 28, 2021.
Facebook blocked Donald Trump’s account in January following the riot in the U.S. Capitol. The former president hasn’t changed his news since the lockdown, according to CNN political scientist Jackie Kucinich.
“We see the same news that he had before the riot, you know, while he’s in Mar-a-lago. He still says the election was stolen,” she told CNN. “There hasn’t been a change of heart or mind there and maybe – I’ll find out later – that went into that decision. And I know that was a problem for them [political] left that this might continue to spark tensions. “
Facebook’s judicial oversight body said Wednesday that the social network can continue to prevent former President Trump from using its platform.
Trump had access to his Facebook and Facebook-owned Instagram accounts on January 7th, the day after the deadly riot in Washington DC. Zuckerberg wrote at the time: “We believe that the risk that the president can continue to use our service during this time is simply too great.”
Kucinich also pointed to the importance of the decision when Trump “may envisage a comeback in 2024”.
“The Trump campaign in 2020 and 2016 spent a ton of money on Facebook advertising and Facebook fundraisers. And for 2024 … Facebook would be a critical part of this small donor fundraising strategy for its team,” she said.
The suspension would also allow Congress Republicans “to falsify their own message and stick to one topic when attacking Democrats. So there was a slight sigh of relief there,” added Kucinich.