With social media sites like Twitter and Facebook dealing with conservative outrage that some of the most extreme right-wing accounts have been banned or suspended, President Donald Trump said Saturday that social-media sites are censoring Republican voices and that he would do something about it.
But as usual with Trump, his old tweets have been unearthed that contradict everything he just wrote.
Early Saturday morning, Trump logged onto Twitter and wrote that social media sites are engaged in censorship.
Trump wrote, “Social Media is totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices. Speaking loudly and clearly for the Trump Administration, we won’t let that happen. They are closing down the opinions of many people on the RIGHT, while at the same time doing nothing to others. Censorship is a very dangerous thing & absolutely impossible to police. If you are weeding out Fake News, there is nothing so Fake as CNN & MSNBC, & yet I do not ask that their sick behavior be removed. I get used to it and watch with a grain of salt, or don’t watch at all. Too many voices are being destroyed, some good & some bad, and that cannot be allowed to happen. Who is making the choices, because I can already tell you that too many mistakes are being made. Let everybody participate, good & bad, and we will all just have to figure it out!”
Social Media is totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices. Speaking loudly and clearly for the Trump Administration, we won’t let that happen. They are closing down the opinions of many people on the RIGHT, while at the same time doing nothing to others…….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2018
…..Censorship is a very dangerous thing & absolutely impossible to police. If you are weeding out Fake News, there is nothing so Fake as CNN & MSNBC, & yet I do not ask that their sick behavior be removed. I get used to it and watch with a grain of salt, or don’t watch at all..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2018
….Too many voices are being destroyed, some good & some bad, and that cannot be allowed to happen. Who is making the choices, because I can already tell you that too many mistakes are being made. Let everybody participate, good & bad, and we will all just have to figure it out!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2018
He’s likely referring to right-wing talk-show host Alex Jones being banned from nearly every social media site and the recent talking point that Twitter has shadow banned some conservative voices.
Unsurprisingly, though, other past Trump tweets were refreshed onto Twitter timelines that show him trying to censor news outlets he doesn’t agree with and for saying protesting NFL players should be fired.
On Twitter today, President Trump claims credit for not censoring CNN and MSNBC. In October 2017, he tried https://t.co/o3NWYTQcoM
— David Frum (@davidfrum) August 18, 2018
Trump weighs in against the banning or suspending of even "bad" right-wingers from social media, saying all speech should be allowed.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) August 18, 2018
He has told the NFL to "fire or suspend" protesting players and said he wants to revoke the licenses of TV networks whose coverage he dislikes. pic.twitter.com/PDFqxT9eIb
For its part, Twitter said it doesn’t shadow ban people, and though Jones has been pushed off many platforms, there are a number of conservative voices who are still allowed to try to take his place.