On Friday night, Twitter permanently suspended President Donald Trump’s account, citing his potential to incite violence further.
The crackdown on the president’s Twitter usage predictably infuriated Trump. He went “ballistic,” a senior administration official told Politico.
After the ban, Trump tweeted from the official @POTUS Twitter account but his posts were almost immediately deleted.
Similarly, the president then tried in vain to share a message from his @TeamTrump account. This was deleted and the account was suspended.
The official also said Trump was “scrambling to figure out what his options are,” according to Politico.
In a now-deleted tweet, Trump said he’d been “negotiating with various other sites” and would have a big announcement soon. Trump also said that his team “look at the possibilities of building our own platform in the near future.”
Now-deleted tweets from the @POTUS Twitter account.
Twitter
Parler, the ‘free speech’ platform that many thought Trump might join next, has been removed from Google’s Play Store. Apple is expected to follow suit in removing the app.
Facebook has also “indefinitely” banned Trump from the website.
Trump’s banishment from Twitter — the platform that has defined much of his presidency — was met with both outrage and glee online.
His critics celebrated his account being disabled, most notably Hillary Clinton.
—Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) January 9, 2021
—Sacha Baron Cohen (@SachaBaronCohen) January 8, 2021
—bettemidler (@BetteMidler) January 9, 2021
Allies, however, called it “silencing” and “censorship.”
—Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) January 8, 2021
—Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) January 9, 2021
—Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) January 8, 2021
—Madison Cawthorn (@CawthornforNC) January 9, 2021
While some have called the Twitter ban a First Amendment issue, the move does not violate that law or any others.
