Trump Rails Against Twitter After Platform Uses CNN To 'Fact-Check' Him
President Donald Trump lashed out at Twitter on Tuesday after the social media giant relied upon the network Trump has branded “fake news” as part of its fact-check claim that two of his tweets were “unsubstantiated.”
The president doubled down on his comments with a Wednesday demand that social media stop stifling conservative voices.
Trump tweeted Tuesday: “@Twitter is now interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election. They are saying my statement on Mail-In Ballots, which will lead to massive corruption and fraud, is incorrect, based on fact-checking by Fake News CNN and the Amazon Washington Post.”
“Twitter is completely stifling FREE SPEECH, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!” he added.
….Twitter is completely stifling FREE SPEECH, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2020
Trump has been battling Democrats over the issue of voting by mail, which he contends will increase voter fraud.
Democrats have been calling for mail-in voting to be the norm this November, claiming it is necessary due to the impact of the current health crisis on the nation.
Trump’s barrage against Twitter came after Twitter put fact-check labels on two of his tweets about voting by mail and California’s plan to send ballots to all eligible voters.
“There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent. Mail boxes will be robbed, ballots will be forged & even illegally printed out & fraudulently signed. The Governor of California is sending Ballots to millions of people, anyone … living in the state, no matter who they are or how they got there, will get one,” he tweeted.
“That will be followed up with professionals telling all of these people, many of whom have never even thought of voting before, how, and for whom, to vote. This will be a Rigged Election. No way!”
….living in the state, no matter who they are or how they got there, will get one. That will be followed up with professionals telling all of these people, many of whom have never even thought of voting before, how, and for whom, to vote. This will be a Rigged Election. No way!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2020
Twitter then cited CNN and The Washington Post as reasons to label Trump’s claims “unsubstantiated.”
“On Tuesday, President Trump made a series of claims about potential voter fraud after California Governor Gavin Newsom announced an effort to expand mail-in voting in California during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Twitter posted.
“These claims are unsubstantiated, according to CNN, Washington Post and others. Experts say mail-in ballots are very rarely linked to voter fraud.”
Never one to back away from a challenge, Trump invoked the threat of regulation if social media platforms fail to provide balance.
“Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices. We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen. We saw what they attempted to do, and failed, in 2016,” he wrote Wednesday.
“We can’t let a more sophisticated version of that … happen again. Just like we can’t let large scale Mail-In Ballots take root in our Country. It would be a free for all on cheating, forgery and the theft of Ballots. Whoever cheated the most would win. Likewise, Social Media. Clean up your act, NOW!!!!”
….happen again. Just like we can’t let large scale Mail-In Ballots take root in our Country. It would be a free for all on cheating, forgery and the theft of Ballots. Whoever cheated the most would win. Likewise, Social Media. Clean up your act, NOW!!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2020
A Twitter spokesperson told Fox News that Trump’s tweets were “not in violation of the Twitter Rules as it does not directly try to dissuade people from voting — it does, however, contain misleading information about the voting process, specifically mail-in ballots, and we’re offering more context to the public.”
But the Trump campaign said Twitter is clearly playing politics.
“We always knew that Silicon Valley would pull out all the stops to obstruct and interfere with President Trump getting his message through to voters. Partnering with the biased fake news media ‘fact checkers’ is only a smoke screen Twitter is using to try to lend their obvious political tactics some false credibility,” Brad Parscale, Trump’s campaign manager, said in a statement.
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