![US-POLITICS-TRUMP]-TWITTER](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/GettyImages-1215626690-scaled-e1607979000119.jpg "US-POLITICS-TRUMP]-TWITTER")
Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale urged President Donald Trump in early 2020 to invest heavily in an account on the Parler social media app in anticipation of being banned from Twitter and Facebook, a former senior Trump campaign adviser told the Daily Caller on Friday.
The adviser said Parscale foresaw that Twitter and Facebook would “most likely” ban the president before leaving office, an event that ultimately came to pass Friday. Parscale made the case for Parler, a social media company that markets itself on free speech absolutism, to Trump at a Cabinet room meeting in early 2020, the adviser said. The plan received pushback from senior adviser Jared Kushner and was ultimately tabled in July with Parscale’s departure from the campaign, the adviser said.
Another former senior Trump campaign official confirmed that Parscale was pushing Trump toward Parler and warned him that bans were likely.
If it had been enacted, Parscale’s plan would have seen a drastic shift in where Americans go to view real-time comments from the president, the adviser said. Parscale suggested that Trump post messages to Parler a full hour prior to posting them on Twitter or Facebook, causing not only his followers to transfer away from mainstream platforms but the media as well, accoridng to the adviser.
“This suggestion from Parscale would have prevented the total embarrassment of the POTUS being banned today,” the adviser said. (RELATED: Trump Says He Was ‘Outraged’ By Supporters Storming Capitol, Is Now Focused On ‘Smooth’ Transition Of Power)
Twitter and Facebook have both taken action to crack down not only on Trump himself but also on numerous other pro-Trump accounts they say spread conspiracies and incite violence. Google also banned Parler from its app store, and Apple has issued an ultimatum threatening to do the same.
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD – FEBRUARY 28: Brad Parscale, campaign manager for Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign, walks on stage during the Conservative Political Action Conference 2020 (CPAC) hosted by the American Conservative Union on February 28, 2020 in National Harbor, MD. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Trump released a statement railing against Twitter’s decision to ban him Friday evening, though he did say he “predicted” the ban was incoming.
“As I have been saying for a long time, Twitter has gone further and further in banning free speech, and tonight, Twitter employees have coordinated with the Democrats and the Radical Left in removing my account from their platform, to silence me — and YOU, the 75,000,000 great patriots who voted for me,” Trump said. “Twitter may be a private company, but without the government’s gift of Section 230 they would not exist for long.”
“I predicted this would happen,” he added. “We have been negotiating with various other sites, and will have a big announcement soon, while we also look at the possibilities of building out our own platform in the near future. We will not be SILENCED.”