Last week, Nigeria indefinitely bannedTwitter, which many observers considered a concerning move, since the social media platform is seen as a vital tool for the country’s civil society. But former President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued a statement praising the decision.
“Congratulations to … Nigeria, who just banned Twitter because they banned their president,” Trump said. Twitter did not, in fact, ban Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. The company instead deleted a tweet which threatened separatists in southeastern Nigeria and suspended Buhari’s account for 12 hours.
That was enough for Trump, though, who used the incident to call for more countries to follow Nigeria’s lead and restrict access to Twitter and Facebook, both of which he currently has no access to, “for not allowing free and open speech.” He then said “perhaps, I should have done it while I was president,” but suggested he never did because Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg frequently complimented him while he was in office before finishing the statement with a maybe-not-so cryptic “2024?” Read the full statement below.
