UPDATE: Reacting to his suspension, Banks released the following statement:
My tweet was a statement of fact. Big Tech doesn't have to agree with me, but they shouldn't be able to cancel me. If they silence me, they will silence you. We can't allow Big Tech to prevent us from telling the truth. When Republicans take back the House next year, we must restore honesty to our public forums and hold Big Tech accountable.
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On Saturday morning, Congressman Jim Banks (R-IN) announced that Twitter had suspended his account and removed a tweet "misgendering" HHS Deputy Secretary Rachel Levine as a man when, in fact, Levine -- a transgender woman -- is a biological woman.
Levine, who recently awarded four stars as an officer for the Department of Health and Human Services, has been referred to by the Biden administration and the rest of the liberal media as the first female four-star officer.
It was Banks's disagreement with that characterization that got him in trouble:
"The title of first female four-star officer gets taken by a man," he said.
Twitter explained that Banks will be locked out of his account until he deletes the tweet.
Twitter added Banks’s tweet violated the platform’s rules against hateful conduct: “You may not promote violence against, threaten, or harass, other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease.”
Not surprisingly, Twitter has previously suspended conservatives on Twitter before for “misgendering” people.
Radio personality Erick Erickson was suspended for tweeting that Laurel Hubbard “is a man.”
Erickson had commented on a post about the suspension of conservative commentator Allie Beth Stuckey, who had also been suspended days before for the same Twitter violation.
“This is absurd,” Erickson tweeted. “Laurel Hubbard is a man even if Twitter doesn’t like it.”
Conservatives are under attack. Contact Twitter at (415) 222-9670, on Facebook, on Twitter or by mail to 1355 Market Street, Suite 900, and demand that the platform provide equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
