Furious Trump says ‘anti-free speech’ Twitter is ‘interfering in election’ after it adds ‘fact-checks’ to his posts – The Sun
AN OUTRAGED Donald Trump has roasted Twitter for labelling his tweets with "fact-checks" for the first time after he posted about "rigged" mail-in votes.
He fumed that the social networking service was "interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election" and said he would not tolerate it.
Twitter on Tuesday for the first time prompted readers to check facts in tweets sent by Trump, warning his claims about mail-in ballots were false and had been debunked by fact checkers.
The blue exclamation mark notification prompted readers to “get the facts about mail-in ballots”.
People were then directed them to a page with news articles and information about the claims aggregated by Twitter staffers.
A headline at the top of the page stated: “Trump makes unsubstantiated claim that mail-in ballots will lead to voter fraud."
This was followed by a “what you need to know” section correcting three false or misleading claims made in the tweets.
But, tonight Trump blasted: "Twitter is now interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election.
"They are saying my statement on Mail-In Ballots, which will lead to massive corruption and fraud, is incorrect, based on fact-checking by Fake News CNN and the Amazon Washington Post.
"Twitter is completely stifling free speech, and I, as President, will not allow it to happen!"
Trump had claimed in tweets earlier in the day that mail-in ballots would be “substantially fraudulent” and result in a “rigged election.”
He also singled out the governor of California over the issue, although the state is not the only one to use mail-in ballots.
Twitter confirmed this was the first time it had applied a fact-checking label to a tweet by the president.
The warning labels suggest Trump has finally crossed a line that the company was not willing to move for him.
The social networking service said the fact-checking service was an extension of its new “misleading information” policy introduced this month to combat misinformation about the coronavirus.
'PLEASE DELETE'
Twitter’s fact-checking notification on Wednesday came hours after the social network declined to take action on tweets Trump sent about the 2001 death of a former congressional staff member, after her widower asked the company to remove them for furthering false claims.
The husband of a woman who died by accident two decades ago in an office of then-GOP Rep. Joe Scarborough is demanding that Twitter remove the president’s tweets suggesting Scarborough, now a fierce Trump critic, killed her.
Timothy Klausutis wrote to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey: “My request is simple: Please delete these tweets."
The body of Lori Kaye Klausutis, 28, was found in Scarborough’s Fort Walton Beach, Florida, congressional office on July 20, 2001.
Trump has repeatedly tried to implicate Scarborough, a host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show, in the death even though Scarborough was in Washington, not Florida, at the time.
Trump frequently attacks private citizens and public figures alike, but has never faced Twitter sanctions on his account.
Klausutis wrote in his letter that he has struggled to move on with his life due to the ongoing “bile and misinformation” spread about his wife on the platform, most recently by Trump.
His wife continues to be the subject of conspiracy theories 20 years after her death.
At Tuesday’s White House briefing, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany repeatedly refused to say why Trump was pressing the unfounded allegations or whether he would stop tweeting about them.
Instead, she focused on remarks that Scarborough made about the case that she said were inappropriate and flippant.
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