Minnesota representative and Deputy Chair of the DNC Keith Ellison recently called on Twitter to ban Donald Trump once and for all, joining countless publications who have made the same demand. And currently, nearly 72,000 people have signed an online petition asking for the same. Unfortunately for all those dreaming of a Trump-free Twitter, it is almost certainly never going to happen.

The case for banning Trump from Twitter goes something like this: He consistently violates the site's terms of service, up to and including the incitement of violence. Simple enough.

The case for letting Trump keep his account gets a bit murkier. "He's having a real-time conversation with the world," Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey told CNN. "And I think that's something we should learn from." Twitter has also asserted that having Trump on Twitter is "good" and that "the more that happens, the better we are going to be at showing what’s going on in the world." None of which means very much, and doesn't address the actual issues that Trump's Twitter behavior raises.

In truth, it should be a simple conversation. Trump may be good for business, but his ability to inspire swarming masses of trolls makes his continued use of the platform dangerous. Twitter has already banned Milo Yiannopoulos, right-wing troll Chuck Johnson, and self-declared "anti-feminist" writer Robert Stacy McCain for abusive behavior. So Twitter's rules do seem to apply in some cases.

Just not, apparently, for Trump, who has violated Twitter's terms of service enough times to get banned–or at least suspended–several times over by now. No, really; we checked.

Unlawful Use

Twitter claims that users "may not use our service for any unlawful purposes or in furtherance of illegal activities." Whoops!

Back in March, during the first Trumpcare debacles, both of Donald Trump's Twitter accounts (@realdonaldtrump and @POTUS) sent out tweets urging the American people to contact their representatives in support of the AHCA.

White House-produced video accompanied both tweets. As it just so happens, the appropriations bill includes a section specifically prohibiting this: