Musk to unban Donald Trump on Twitter

PATRICK PLEUL/AP

Elon Musk said Twitter would reverse its ban of former President Donald Trump if his purchase of the social media company goes through.

Speaking virtually at an auto conference, the Tesla CEO said that Twitter's ban of Trump was a "morally bad decision" and "foolish in the extreme", AP reported.

"I think that was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice," said Musk, adding that he preferred temporary suspensions and other narrowly tailored punishments for content that is illegal or otherwise "destructive to the world."

Musk has repeatedly criticized Twitter's content moderation decisions, including banning Trump for "incitement of violence," but had mostly avoided saying what he would do about Trump's account.

On April 14, Musk made an offer to buy Twitter for $44 billion.

It is "certainly not a done deal," he said.