A screenshot of a tweet, purportedly shared by former United States (US) President Donald Trump, is being widely shared on social media, where Trump appears to thanking the Twitter's new CEO Elon Musk for reinstating his account.
Trump's account was permanently suspended by Twitter on 8 January 2021 "due to the risk of further incitement of violence." This was two days after the Capitol Hill riots.
Though there are speculations of his account being reinstated, Trump's Twitter account remains suspended as on 30 October 2022.
Trump's account remains suspended.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
The screenshot of the tweet being shared shows the user's handle as 'TheUltGmr' and uses a photo of the former President. While we could not confirm when the account changed its name, we found that it previously used the screen name 'UR2SLOW.'
CLAIM
Social media users are sharing the screenshot to claim that former US President Donald Trump's Twitter account has been reinstated.
An archived version of this post can be seen here.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We saw that the screenshot of the tweet being shared uses Trump's photograph and name, but shows the handle as '@TheUltGmr,' whereas Trump's suspended account has the username '@realDonaldTrump.'
The account has the username 'TheUltGmr'
(Source: Twitter/Altered by The Quint)
We checked '@TheUltGmr' for the tweet in the screenshot and found that the verified account was not using Trump's photograph anymore.
However, an archived version of this tweet matched the screenshot being shared on social media.
(Note: Swipe right for both screenshots.)
The account does not have Trump's photo.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
It operated with the screen name 'UR2SLOW'
(Source: Wayback Machine/Altered by The Quint)
While we were unable to verify when this account changed its screen name, we can confirm that it does not belong to former US President Donald Trump, whose account remains suspended as on 30 October 2022.
@TheUltGmr's verified Twitter account's bio states that it does a "little trolling" and that it is a "parody account."
It calls itself a parody.
(Source: Twitter/Altered by The Quint)
Evidently, social media users shared a parody account's tweet as one from Trump's account to claim that his suspended account had been reinstated after Twitter was bought by Elon Musk.
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