gop twitter ad boycott

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GOP boycotting Twitter ads over Mitch McConnell’s campaign Twitter lock

It could cost Twitter hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

Tiffanie Drayton

Tech

Posted on Aug 8, 2019   Updated on May 20, 2021, 6:55 am CDT

The GOP is angry about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s reelection campaign Twitter account being locked and is now pledging to boycott ad spending on the platform until it’s unlocked.

President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign will team up with the Republican National Committee (RNC), the House and Senate GOP campaigns, and the Senate Leadership Fund, to pull ad spending on the site–a move that could cost Twitter hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on how long the boycott lasts.

“Get your act together. We’re not spending on your platform until you correct your unfair treatment,” the Senate Leadership Fund wrote in a tweet.

Trump’s reelection campaign told the New York Post that it, alone, would generate between $300,000 to $500,000 for Twitter.

McConnell’s campaign Twitter account, @Team_Mitch, was locked after it posted a video of protesters gathered in front of McConnell’s home, shouting profanities. One of the protesters reportedly shouted that McConnell should “have broken his little raggedy… neck.” The protest was reportedly in response to a photo, which featured young men wearing “Team Mitch” shirts, groping and choking a cutout of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)

“We firmly believe that if a platform allows #massacremitch to trend but locks our account because we posted threats made against him, there is something deeply wrong with that platform,” Kevin Golden, McConnell’s campaign manager, wrote in a statement given to the Post.

The account was temporarily locked because it “violated our violent threats policy, specifically threats involving physical safety,” a company spokesperson told the Courier Journal.

Twitter had no comment for the Daily Dot.

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H/T New York Post

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*First Published: Aug 8, 2019, 7:08 pm CDT