Media watchdog slams Twitter 'Thought Cops' for suspending his account after anti-Cuomo tweet

Grabien Media founder Tom Elliott on Wednesday accused Twitter of censoring him because he criticized liberal media darling New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, saying the social media platform "once again established that its ‘rules’ are merely cover to penalize accounts engaging in Wrongthink."

The Democratic governor and older brother of CNN host Chris Cuomo has largely gotten a pass from the mainstream media despite being regularly blamed by New Yorkers for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. His state was the epicenter of the domestic outbreak in the early spring, bearing the brunt of cases as the country grappled with the disease and experts raced to share more details on transmissibility, symptoms and prevention methods.

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One of the controversies in the state was Cuomo’s regulations regarding nursing home patients, which some argue may have contributed to a large number of fatalities among vulnerable, elderly populations. The governor drew ire again due to statements he made at a Monday press briefing, during which he addressed the slow vaccination process, passing blame and issuing threats.

Elliott’s Twitter account was suspended after he mocked Cuomo’s treatment of senior citizens and the Grabien Media founder sent a series of messages detailing his side of the story.

"Twitter suspended me after I criticized @NYGovCuomo for denying NYC’s request to make vaccines available for senior citizens," Elliott wrote along with an image of a message twitter sent him noting that he violated rules against "abuse and harassment."

Elliott’s tweet in question was: ". @NYGovCuomo to NY’s remaining seniors: Please just die already," a sarcastic reference to the ongoing controversy surrounding the governor and nursing homes in the Empire State.

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". @Twitter falsely claimed I was violating their rules against ‘abuse and harassment [which] includes wishing or hoping that someone experiences physical harm.’ My tweet was explicitly doing the opposite; trying to protect NY’s most vulnerable from Cuomo’s deadly vaccine rules," Elliott wrote.

"Rather than agree to their demand to delete the tweet, I appealed. Twitter’s appeal process bizarrely limits you to 240 characters, which is hardly enough space to explain the stupidity of their Thought Cops," Elliott continued. "I suspected Twitter wouldn’t conduct the appeal process in good faith, but preferred being locked out over implicitly agreeing my tweet meant the opposite of what it did. They later confirmed my suspicion and denied the appeal."

The Grabien Media founder then wrote, "Twitter has thus once again established that its 'rules' are merely cover to penalize accounts engaging in Wrongthink. As my tweet was clearly in defense of NY’s most vulnerable population, the only conclusion is that Twitter’s upset I’m criticizing Gov. Cuomo."

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Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Here is Elliott's entire thread: 

Elliott deleted the tweet so that he would be able to access his account and share his version of events.

"I’ve thus deleted the tweet so I can bring forth this story about @Twitter engaging in the same shameful behavior it did pre-Election Day; manipulating its platform to protect the political interests of its favored politicians – even if that results in needless death & despair," Elliott wrote.

'Twitter is saying you can’t even criticize Cuomo for being the monster he is.'

— Dan Gainor

Media Research Center vice president Dan Gainor believes Elliott’s theory that Twitter didn’t appreciate criticism of the Democratic governor.

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"This from the same Twitter that censored a New York Post news story about Hunter Biden to help influence the presidential election and help its Democrat buddies. Twitter isn’t run in a legitimate or fair way. That’s the sad fact for what was a free speech outlet," Gainor told Fox News.

"This is the essence of the bull crap that conservatives have to contend with on platforms. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo forced COVID patients into senior centers resulting in thousands of deaths. The major media, especially including his CNN anchor brother Chris, have covered for him," Gainor continued.

"Now Twitter is saying you can’t even criticize Cuomo for being the monster he is. I guess that’s the kind of healthy conversation [Twitter CEO] Jack Dorsey wants."

Fox News’ Britttany De Lea and Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.