Trump campaign slams ‘far-left activists’ at Twitter over vote by mail disclaimer
'These far-left activists trying to dictate what news stories people are allowed to see are the real threat to our democracy and free and fair elections,” Matt Wolking said
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Trump 2020 deputy communications director Matt Wolking blasted Twitter on Wednesday for trying to “dictate what news stories people are allowed to see” and accused the social media platform of bias after it added a “vote by mail is safe and secure” label to a tweet.
“Once again Twitter’s left-wing censors and manipulators targeted someone for committing the crime of sharing news reports that Twitter doesn’t like. These far-left activists trying to dictate what news stories people are allowed to see are the real threat to our democracy and free and fair elections,” Wolking told Fox News, noting that Twitter initially removed the tweet altogether.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It started when President Trump retweeted a message sent by one of his campaign staffers, Abigail Marone, that claimed it’s “literal insanity watching the lamestream media pretend there are no issues with universal vote by mail.”
Marone then listed “ballots are being thrown away,” “voters are receiving incorrect & mislabeled ballots” and states mailing out duplicate ballots as examples of why the American people don’t trust the media on the particular topic.
Marone’s message apparently caught the eye of the social media giant and her account was initially locked for “violating” Twitter rules by “providing false information about voting or registering to vote” even though her claims have been reported by mainstream media outlets.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TRUMP’S WARNING ON VOTING BY MAIL: 'THIS IS NOT GOING TO END WELL’
Recently, ABC News reported that ballots were thrown in the trash, the New York Post reported that mislabeled absentee ballots are an issue in Brooklyn and the Washington Examiner reported that Virginia voters have received duplicate ballots.
Instead of deleting the tweet, Marone filed an appeal and her account was restored but the tweet was slapped with the label that allows users to “learn how voting by mail is safe and secure.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Clicking on the Twitter-provided label brings users to a page headlined, “Voting by mail is legal and safe, experts and data confirm.”
“With the 2020 US general election approaching on November 3, experts and fact checkers have continued to assure American voters that voting by mail is a safe and secure option, especially in the middle of a pandemic. Deadlines and rules vary from state to state, so it is important that voters check with their state and county about how to properly vote by mail if this is the voting method they choose, experts say,” the Twitter page said.
While the on-going controversy over voting by mail continues to be a major story as Election day approaches, the Trump campaign isn’t happy with Twitter getting involved.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Twitter staffers are obviously targeting President Trump and his supporters for partisan reasons, and every day they demonstrate why they do not deserve to be treated as a neutral platform,” Wolking said.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.