It’s been almost three and a half years since Donald Trump was suspended from Twitch, and now the former President’s account is back on the Amazon-owned platform. The suspension came after the tumultuous events of January 6, 2021, when protests surrounding the 2020 Presidential Election turned deadly at the United States Capitol. Trump, the Republican candidate in that election, faced criticism for allegedly inciting the protests, leading to his removal from platforms like Twitch and Twitter just weeks later.
Fast forward to July 19, 2024, and Donald Trump’s Twitch account is reinstated, marking three years, five months, and four weeks since the initial suspension. Journalist Rod ‘Slasher‘ Breslau received a comment from Twitch, explaining that Trump’s involvement in the 2024 election played a role in the decision to lift the suspension. Twitch stated, “We reinstated former President Trump’s channel. We believe there is value in hearing from Presidential nominees directly, when possible. Trump is now the official Republican nominee for US president.”
Although Donald Trump’s Twitch account boasts over 150,000 followers, the channel has been inactive since January 4, 2021, and currently only shows 222 followers.
In a related move, Elon Musk, who acquired Twitter in November 2022, lifted Trump’s ban from the platform after conducting a poll that garnered 15 million votes, with 51.2% in favor of reinstating Trump’s account. Since the unban, Trump has made only one post, sharing a photo of his mugshot and a link to his website. It seems that the former president has chosen to make Truth Social his primary social media platform for expressing his thoughts.
Elon Musk’s influence extended beyond Trump, as influencer Andrew Tate, previously suspended in 2017 for hate speech, was also unbanned from Twitter, now called X, on November 18, 2024.
