Trump thinks that his supporters are a protected class who are being discriminated against on social media.
Trump tweeted:
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
Trump supporters are not being discriminated against
Some Trump supporters like Alex Jones traffic in conspiracy theories and racism and those people are kicked off of social media networks because their hate speech violates the terms of service of these platforms. All anyone has to do is spend five minutes on Twitter, Facebook, or any other platform to know that Trump supporters are not only allowed to post, but they are alive and well on social media.
Trump is feeding right’s paranoia about media bias
Trump knows his audience. His tweets about discrimination on social media are some of his most liked content of the last few days. The secret to Trump’s popularity within his party isn’t his policies or his behavior. It is that he knows how to feed their grievances and stoke their fear and paranoia. Trump’s tweets weren’t about imagined inequality in social media. He was trying to whip up his supporters before the midterm election.
Trump has seen his own Twitter account fail to control the media coverage
Trump and his team came into the White House under the belief that Trump’s Twitter account was this all-powerful platform that could control the media’s coverage. Eventually, the media figured out that Trump’s tweets weren’t worth the breaking news treatment and most outlets began to ignore him, or give the tweets a passing mention. Trump has flopped on social media, so now he is crying discrimination.
Being a white male Republican is not a protected class, so social media is not discriminating against Trump and supporters. What is happening is that more social platforms are taking a stand against the hate speech against real protected classes that some Trump supporters are engaging in.
Decency is pushing back, and that is why Trump is complaining about censorship and discrimination.
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Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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