By John Clise
Twitter has announced it has permanently banned President Donald J. Trump from its platform on both his personal and official @potus account that will be turned over to President-elect Joe Biden upon his inauguration.
In its announcement, Twitter cited “the risk of further incitement of violence” as the reason.
“After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” the company said in a tweet.
“In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action,” Twitter said in a blog post. “Our public interest framework exists to enable the public to hear from elected officials and world leaders directly. It is built on a principle that the people have a right to hold power to account in the open.”
“However, we made it clear going back years that these accounts are not above our rules and cannot use Twitter to incite violence,” the post continued. “We will continue to be transparent around our policies and their enforcement.”
The permanent suspension followed a 12 hour ban earlier this week due Trump’s continued promotion of false narrative related to the 2020 presidential election, as well as several tweets that were found to be baseless in fact, as well as inciting violence.
Twitter also removed the accounts of Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell and Ron Watkins, the administrator of the website 8kun, which was formerly named 8chan.
Twitter also suspended accounts linked to or promoting QAnon
The accounts were suspended due to violation of Twitter’s Coordinated Harmful Activity policy.
Democrats have announced they will be filling the required paperwork for a second impeachment of President Trump on Monday on a single count of inciting an insurrection.
More than 150 House Democrats, well over half of the caucus, have signed on to the article of impeachment written by Reps. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Ted Lieu of California and Jamie Raskin of Maryland.
On Friday, the first GOP senator came out calling for Trump to resign from office
Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, has denounced Trump and called for his immediate resignation.
Murkowski released the following statement on Thursday:
“As a nation, every four years we figure out a way through our election process— through this great democracy we have. We figure out how we peacefully transfer power from one administration to the next. Even when it is to an individual you did not support, that you would prefer not to be your president—we accept the validity of the process that we have embraced as Americans for centuries. Yesterday’s insurrection was incited, and it was incited from the highest level. It tore at the hearts of Americans. It tore at the heart of our very democracy. We must go forward in a manner that will unify us in all that we do. We will have areas of disagreement on policy. That is understood. But we must remember at the heart of us, at the core of us, are our shared values of democracy. That’s what we stood for as we concluded the Electoral College process in verifying and confirming that President-Elect Biden will become our next president. So as we move forward after a very tough and tumultuous time, we must move forward with a resoluteness, a foundation, just as we stand on here at our nation’s Capitol.”
U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) issued the following statement earlier this week on Congress resuming its constitutional duty to certify the election after a violent mob of President Trump’s supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol, calling for the 25th amendment to be invoked immediately to prevent President Trump from inciting further harm in the days ahead.
“Congress is continuing the process of certifying the election, but only after a day of chaos and violent extremism in the Capitol where some of our worst fears about the harm this President is willing to incite were realized.
“We need questions answered about the profound breakdown in security and the stark difference in the treatment of this violent mob compared to legions of women, people with disabilities, members of the clergy, and activists of color who have peacefully protested in and around the Capitol complex.
“The insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol today should be held fully accountable for their actions under the law. So should the President. The most immediate way to ensure the President is prevented from causing further harm in coming days is to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove him from office. As history watches, I urge Vice President Pence and the President’s cabinet to put country before party and act.
“To families in Washington state and nationwide, please know that as frightening as this has been, there is reason for hope because of your participation in the very same processes the President is seeking to undermine. Because of you, we will soon have a President and Senate determined to protect and strengthen rather than jeopardize our democratic institutions. Continue to have faith in yourselves, each other, and our democracy, and we will get through this together.”
Additionally, Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska has stated he would consider voting to remove President Trump from office if the House impeached him for a second time.
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