Trump asks federal judge to let him back on Twitter
Former President Donald Trump is making a federal case out of a Twitter tantrum.
The man kicked out of the White House by voters and off social media by moderators has asked a federal judge in Florida to force Twitter to restore his account, which was suspended in January after the deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol.
Twitter and Facebook took down Trump’s accounts after the Capitol riot led by people refusing to accept the fact that he’d lost fair and square to Joe Biden — who won the popular vote by more than 7 million and the Electoral College 306-232. YouTube followed suit by banning him.
Trump’s attorneys on Friday filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Miami seeking a preliminary injunction against Twitter and its CEO, Jack Dorsey. They argue that Twitter is censoring Trump in violation of his First Amendment rights.
Twitter declined to comment Saturday on Trump’s filing.
After Trump — who had about 89 million followers at the time — was banned from Twitter, Dorsey wrote that the decision wasn’t an easy one.
“I believe this was the right decision for Twitter,” he wrote in January, saying the company “faced an extraordinary and untenable circumstance, forcing us to focus all of our actions on public safety.” He conceded, however, it also “sets a precedent I feel is dangerous: the power an individual or corporation has over a part of the global public conversation.”
In July, Trump filed lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against three tech companies and their CEOs, claiming that he and other conservatives have been wrongfully censored.
Trump toadies tossed from Twitter for good include lawyers L. Lin Wood and Sidney Powell, retired Gen. Michael Flynn and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.
With News Wire Services
