Pompeo, Cruz and other Trump allies condemn Twitter’s ban on president

Lawmakers and a civil liberties group are speaking out against Twitter’s decision on Friday to permanently ban President Trump from its platform. 

Twitter decided to ban Trump for violation of its glorification of violence policy. Many on the right have taken to Twitter to speak out against this decision. 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted, “Silencing speech is dangerous. It’s un-American. Sadly, this isn’t a new tactic of the Left” and compared Twitter to the Chinese Communist Party.

Silencing speech is dangerous. It’s un-American. Sadly, this isn’t a new tactic of the Left. They’ve worked to silence opposing voices for years.

We cannot let them silence 75M Americans. This isn’t the CCP.

— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) January 9, 2021

Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also expressed their displeasure with Twitter’s decision.

Even those who oppose Trump should see the danger of having a small & unelected group with the power to silence & erase anyone.

And their actions will only stoke new grievances that will end up fueling the very thing they claim to be trying to prevent.

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) January 9, 2021

Big Tech’s PURGE, censorship & abuse of power is absurd & profoundly dangerous.

If you agree w/ Tech’s current biases (Iran, good; Trump, bad), ask yourself, what happens when you disagree?

Why should a handful of Silicon Valley billionaires have a monopoly on political speech? https://t.co/ehgVYtHX7H

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 9, 2021

Many Republican members of congress described Twitter’s decision as an example of Big Tech overreach and censorship.

By banning the duly elected President of the United States, Big Tech has declared they are more powerful than the will of the American people. Unelected tech oligarchs should not have such massive power over global discourse while enjoying little to no oversight/accountability.

— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) January 9, 2021

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) also briefly changed her profile picture to one of Trump.

#NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/030WtQbD2o

— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) January 9, 2021

The only way to stop Big Tech companies like Google and Facebook from censoring conservatives is to rein in their anticompetitive behavior.

They can censor you because they are a monopoly.

— Congressman Ken Buck (@RepKenBuck) January 9, 2021

Twitter purges conservatives. Google suspends Parler.

Where was Big Tech over the summer when liberal voices were inciting violence in our streets?

To be clear: This isn’t about violence. This is about Big Tech trying to control what we think, what we share, how we communicate.

— Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne (@RepBethVanDuyne) January 9, 2021

“For the few liberals left in the Democrat party: work with us to protect our most sacred rights. This must be our greatest priority,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) tweeted.

This will not end well and will only make things worse. Big tech must stop.

For the few liberals left in the Democrat party: work with us to protect our most sacred rights. This must be our greatest priority. https://t.co/B5CqptR3Jt

— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) January 9, 2021

American Civil Liberties Union Senior Legislative Counsel Kate Ruane also put out a statement about Twitter’s decision, saying the “unchecked power” tech has should concern everyone.

Ruane added that Trump has the ability to take his message elsewhere but that “Black, Brown, and LGBTQ activists” won’t have the same resources if social media platforms censor them.

ACLU struggling here on this one….this is American Civil Liberties Union after all. pic.twitter.com/mWFOWJPwon

— Eric Lipton (@EricLiptonNYT) January 9, 2021

Twitter has also suspended Trump’s campaign account and digital director for attempting to let Trump use their accounts to have a platform on the site. Twitter will continue to ban any accounts that try to help Trump get back to its platform.