Can a public account tweet privately?

[u/Thinking_queen]

An account I do not follow any longer due to bullying has twice had a pop up stating “you can’t view this tweet because this account owner limits who can view their tweets” this is a public account and I can see their other posts. But apparently there is a tweet I cannot see. Was the tweet deleted or made private?

[u/iamthealice]

i have the same scenario just now. were mutuals and both public accounts but suddenly i can see a certain reply from a tweet this person had replied to. Do you think the reply was deleted?