Activist Shaun King briefly went dark on Twitter on Monday after receiving death threats from haters and racists.
As reported by Newsweek, conservatives were quick to conclude that King’s account was shut down by the platform after he criticized Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter. However, he logged back on a day later to take aim at Donald Trump Jr. and alt-right political activist Jack Posobiec.
When Posobiec falsely tweeted that King had deleted his account, Don Jr. replied, “That alone is worth $44 billion.”
King clapped back, “You wish, motherf—–,”
He added, “I didn’t delete my account. I was getting death threats and hack attempts from your buddies who stormed the Capitol and had to make it more secure.”
Visitors who previously went to King’s Twitter page were greeted with a message that stated “this account doesn’t exist” after the controversial BLM advocate said on Monday that Musk’s purchase of Twitter is all about “white power.”
“At its root, Elon Musk wanting to purchase Twitter is not about left vs right,” King tweeted per the New York Post.
“The man was raised in Apartheid by a white nationalist. He’s upset that Twitter won’t allow white nationalists to target/harass people. That’s his definition of free speech.”
“So for me, this isn’t about left vs right. Not at all. It’s about how the richest man in the world, a son of Apartheid, raised by a white nationalist, wants to be sure his speech, and that of other white men, isn’t censored,” King added.
On Tuesday, King updated his Twitter bio to read, “I’m still here motherf—-.”
In a statement following his buyout of Twitter, Musk said, “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.”
“Twitter has tremendous potential—I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it,” he added.
Before his $44 billion dollar Twitter purchase was confirmed, Musk tweeted: “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.”
Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey said in a series of tweets on Monday that “Elon’s goal of creating a platform that is “maximally trusted and broadly inclusive” is the right one. This is also [Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal’s] goal, and why I chose him. Thank you both for getting the company out of an impossible situation. This is the right path…I believe it with all my heart.”
He concluded, “I’m so happy Twitter will continue to serve the public conversation. Around the world, and into the stars!”
Dorsey will reportedly receive a $978 million cash payout as part of the deal, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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