Elon Musk is taking heat on Twitter for reinstating far-right favorite Michael Flynn on the second anniversary of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. Flynn, a retired Army general and ex-national security adviser to former President Donald Trump, returned to the stage on Friday.
His account was permanently banned two days after Trump supporters violently stormed the Capitol to block the certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory.
Leading up to the Capitol attack, Flynn was one of the most prominent proponents of false claims that the contest was “stolen” by Biden. Flynn was also a prominent proponent of the pro-Trump QAnon conspiracy theory, repeating and praising the related “Where We Go One We Go All” slogan and referencing the debunked theory on Twitter. He thanked Musk for bringing him back on stage.
“I want to personally thank @elonmusk for all he is doing to help protect our basic human rights, especially our freedom of speech,” Flynn tweeted Friday after being reinstated. To all who offered their strong voices of support to bring me back, thank you! God bless America [U.S. flag emoji]!”
An avalanche of Twitter users attacked Musk for the timing of the reinstatement. Since taking the stage in October, the billionaire has been repeatedly accused of furthering right-wing bias despite claiming to be a champion for neutrality and “free speech”.
Zero coincidence that Twitter reinstated Mischa Flynn’s account today, January 6, for all days, tweeted Dana Grayson, physician and former Democratic candidate for Congress.
Mike Flynn’s Twitter account has been restored, tweeted political opinion writer and self-described “former Trump supporter” David Weissman. Why hasn’t this traitor been sent to jail on charges of treason after being prosecuted for treason till now.
It’s No Coincidence That Elon Musk Restored Traitor QAnon Psycho General Flynn’s Twitter Account On 1/6, USA Singers Tweeted. Michael Flynn was reinstated on Twitter on January 6, the second anniversary, tweeted lawyer and activist Alejandra Caraballo.
The trickle-back of high-profile extremists continues with Mike Flynn, tweeted disinformation researcher John Scott-Railton of the University of Toronto. Of course, Flynn will try to hijack the conversation again. You can help stop this by not retweeting or replying to quotes.
“2 years ago today, January 6th, insurgents stormed the US Capitol,” tweeted Charles Lister, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. To mark the anniversary, @ElonMusk has reinstated one of the insurgency’s most notorious supporters and all-round conspiracy theorist: General Michael Flynn.
@Suezm1 tweeted, What a slap in the face to all those police officers who were injured and traumatized protecting our capitol and our democracy 2 years ago today. Elon Musk is trash and Flynn is a Christofascist traitor to this country.
Some critics of Musk’s reinstatement pointed out that Flynn advocated the use of force to reverse Trump’s 2020 losses, shortly before Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an effort to reverse the losses. did. According to the Associated Press, a few weeks before the Capitol attack, Flynn met with Trump at the White House and urged him to order the confiscation of voting machines and the military to force a new election.
MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan tweeted, Looks like Elon Musk has decided to restore the Twitter account of retired general, election denier, conspiracy theorist and martial law proponent Michael Flynn on the second anniversary of the January 6 attack.
Flynn’s account was restored just hours after Trump confidant Roger Stone tagged Musk in a petition to reinstate the retired general. Stone tweeted Friday morning, “@GenFynn has been locked from his Twitter page since 2020. Please @elonmusk reinstate Gen. Michael Flynn.”
The reinstatement also came a day after Flynn appeared on the right-wing Man in America podcast and mentioned he would like to return to the stage to answer critics. During the appearance, Flynn denounced former federal prosecutor and popular Twitter user Ron Filipkowski, who has frequently criticized both him and Musk.
Original Content @Newsweek