Here’s Why President Trump’s Twitter Account Was Mysteriously Deleted
President Trump has had an… interesting relationship with social media, to say the least. But things got even more complicated last night, when his account was mysteriously (and temporarily) deleted.
The strange sitch first started when @realDonaldTrump (the president’s personal and most active account) suddenly disappeared. As such a high-profile figure, it was something followers were quick to notice, and people were shocked, to say the least.
oh my god pic.twitter.com/7sRi27l9qL
— Adrianne Jeffries (@adrjeffries) November 2, 2017
It didn’t take long for the account to pop back up — 11 minutes to be exact — just as it was before, with no tweets missing and nothing askew, leaving the internet left to wonder: What the hell just happened!?
Earlier today @realdonaldtrump’s account was inadvertently deactivated due to human error by a Twitter employee. The account was down for 11 minutes, and has since been restored. We are continuing to investigate and are taking steps to prevent this from happening again.
— Twitter Government (@TwitterGov) November 3, 2017
The Twitter Government & Elections team first claimed that it was all due to a simple blunder, saying, “Earlier today, @realdonaldtrump’s account was inadvertently deactivated due to human error by a Twitter employee. The account was down for 11 minutes, and has since been restored. We are continuing to investigate and are taking steps to prevent this from happening again.” Straightforward enough, right?
Not exactly. Upon investigation, Twitter learned the real cause of the temporary disappearance of the president’s account, explaining, “Through our investigation, we have learned that this was done by a Twitter customer support employee who did this on the employee’s last day. We are conducting a full internal review.” Yikes!
Through our investigation we have learned that this was done by a Twitter customer support employee who did this on the employee’s last day. We are conducting a full internal review. https://t.co/mlarOgiaRF
— Twitter Government (@TwitterGov) November 3, 2017
Reactions ranged widely, with some calling the “rogue employee” a hero and legend while others claimed that the actions equated to “borderline treason.”
The 72-year-old POTUS waited until Friday morning to respond to the incident, taking to Twitter (of course!) to tell his followers, “My Twitter account was taken down for 11 minutes by a rogue employee. I guess the word must finally be getting out—and having an impact.”
My Twitter account was taken down for 11 minutes by a rogue employee. I guess the word must finally be getting out-and having an impact.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017
While we obviously can’t say what motivated the now ex-Twitter employee to do the deed, there’s no denying that he or she certainly went out with a bang!
What do you think about the fact that a “rogue” Twitter employee deleted President Trump’s Twitter account? Let us know @BritandCo!
(Photo via Mark Wilson/Getty)