Twitter has permanently banned President Donald Trump’s account after issuing a temporary suspension earlier this week, the company announced Friday.
Twitter first suspended Trump’s account Wednesday following a number of tweets the company saw as inciting or justifying violence at the U.S. Capitol. The company required Trump to delete three offending tweets and serve a 12-hour suspension and warned that further infringement would result in a permanent ban. The company has now resorted to the permanent ban.
“After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” Twitter said in a statement. (RELATED: Trump Says He Was ‘Outraged’ By Supporters Storming Capitol, Is Now Focused On ‘Smooth’ Transition Of Power | The Daily Caller)
After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence.https://t.co/CBpE1I6j8Y
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) January 8, 2021
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) January 8, 2021
The company banned Gen. Michael Flynn, Sydney Powell and numerous other influential Trump accounts that it said were spreading conspiracy theories and inciting violence Friday.
“The accounts have been suspended in line with our policy on Coordinated Harmful Activity,” a Twitter spokesperson told NBC News. “We’ve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm, and given the renewed potential for violence surrounding this type of behavior in the coming days, we will permanently suspend accounts that are solely dedicated to sharing QAnon content.”
Facebook banned Trump’s account Thursday, although that company said it may reinstate Trump’s account after President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
Democrats and many Republicans have argued that the president incited the pro-Trump mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that House Democrats will introduce articles of impeachment against Trump if Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet do not move ahead with invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office.
Pence has made no indication that he plans to invoke the 25ht Amendment. (RELATED: Trump Says He Was ‘Outraged’ By Supporters Storming Capitol, Is Now Focused On ‘Smooth’ Transition Of Power)
Trump’s administration has also seen a spate of resignations since Wednesday, including former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, the wife of outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.