What do major media contributors, Never-Trump Republicans and radical feminists have in common? A complete disregard for humanity, apparently, and Twitter has allowed their sadistic rhetoric to flourish.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump’s positive COVID-19 diagnoses trended across Twitter on October 2. “The president and first lady confirmed in the early hours of Friday morning that both have tested positive for COVID-19,” Twitter moments summarized on Friday October 2. But unity appeared to be the farthest thing from the minds of Trump haters, however. Twitter has allowed at least 10 hateful anti-Trump posts from verified accounts wishing Trump harm or death from the coronavirus to flourish unchecked, ranging from hoping the virus “takes [Trump] and the whole administration OUT” to telling the ill president to “Burn in hell.” Twitter has reportedly responded that such content may be against the rules, but they “won’t take enforcement action on every Tweet.”
When contacted about why Twitter allows brazen death wishes and mockery about the health of a sitting president, Twitter merely replied by summarizing its policies regarding “harmful misinformation” around COVID-19. This included a “Statement according to a Twitter spokesperson” that “Further, content that wishes, hopes or expresses a desire for death, serious bodily harm or fatal disease against an individual is against our rules.”
“How to Get Away with Murder” Actor Kendrick Sampson tweeted an outright rant against the sitting president and his supporters:
“#TrumpHasCovid SOMEBODY GET HIM SOME BLEACH!!! Donald The Grand Wizard, Orange Agent, shit on the bottom of my cheapest, beat up sandal, lowest life form, KLU KLUX KOVID TRUMP got the VID & I hope it takes him and the whole administration OUT & we make this a national holiday.”
Self-described “Trans Woman” Danielle Muscato, who claims to have been “seen” in “NYT, Time, CNN, NPR, Rolling Stone,” commented: “I'm not one to laugh at other people's suffering, but.... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA Burn in hell you mother fucker. #COVID19 #TrumpHasCovid #coronavirus #TrumpIsARacist #TrumpLiedPeopleDied #Trump @realDonaldTrump.”
The fact Twitter allows Muscato’s tweet is a perfect example of the platform’s biases. According to Twitter rules, users, including feminists, are not allowed to deny transgender ideology by declaring the biological fact that men and women are not interchangeable.
Other verified users have posted similar hateful rhetoric targeting President Trump.
Former Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein tweeted the #TrumpHasCovid hashtag and commented: “As Martin Luther King said, the arc of the moral universe bends towards justice. Looks like it just took a hairpin turn.”
When asked by Vice Motherboard how strict Twitter’s enforcement will be, Twitter responded that it “won’t take enforcement action on every Tweet. We’re prioritizing the removal of content when it has a clear call to action that could potentially cause real-world harm.” The article included an update that noted that those who were caught by Twitter “may have to remove their tweets and may have their account put into a ‘read only’ mode” while not necessarily facing account suspension.
Some of the tweets that have been deleted so far were indeed heinous. New York Times contributing Movie critic Simon Abrams, for example, in a now-deleted tweet, quipped: “For once, I’m rooting for the virus.”
Conservatives are under attack. Contact Twitter’s leadership by tweeting at the official @Twitter account or call (415) 222-9670 and demand that Big Tech companies stop allowing Chinese government sponsored propaganda on their platforms. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form to be included in our database, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
