Ryan Teague Beckwith
Donald Trump Jr.’s Twitter account has been temporarily suspended after the president’s eldest son shared a video of a group of people touting hydroxychloroquine as an effective treatment for Covid-19.
The Food and Drug Administration last month revoked emergency use authorization for the drug after determining it may have deadly side effects, and the World Health Organization also said it would discontinue its own tests of hydroxychloroquine.
After an adviser to Trump Jr. reported the suspension, Twitter issued a statement saying the move was not permanent, but that the tweet “requires deletion because it violates our rules (sharing misinformation on COVID-19), and the account will have limited functionality for 12 hours.”
This account has not been permanently suspended. Per the screenshot, the Tweet requires deletion because it violates our rules (sharing misinformation on COVID-19), and the account will have limited functionality for 12 hours. More in our rules: https://t.co/0wHWVV5QS4 https://t.co/0gq7rlaNw7
— Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) July 28, 2020
Republicans, including the president, have railed against social media and technology companies, saying that they’re biased against conservatives. Yesterday, Trump criticized Twitter for automated trends that portray him negatively, saying that its “ridiculous, illegal, and of course, very unfair!” -- Mario Parker
Fewer Americans Identify as Conservative (9:43 a.m.)
Fewer Americans self-identify as conservative than at the beginning of the year, according to Gallup polling.
Gallup averaged three polls taken in May and June, which showed 40% of Americans said they were conservative in polls in January and February, but that slipped to just 34% in May and June. The percentage who self-identified as liberal ticked up from 22% to 26%, while moderates stayed roughly the same.
The biggest declines came among Americans age 35 to 54, down 10 points. Those making more than $100,000 a year were down 11 points and residents of suburbs, down eight points.
The survey results are based on polls of 3,079 adults in all 50 states. The margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.
Biden Ad Focuses on Coronavirus Victim (6:30 a.m.)
A new Biden ad features a Wisconsin woman talking about the death of her grandmother due to the coronavirus.
In the 30-second ad called “Didn’t Matter,” Jessica Alvarado says Trump “made a huge mistake in downplaying this virus.”
“There was a lack of leadership, a lack of responsibility and a lack of resources,” she says. “It felt like our elderly have not been a priority for this administration, that they don’t matter. And I feel like my grandmother didn’t matter.”
Alvarado’s grandmother, Susana Martinez, died of Covid-19 on April 29, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Trump Doesn’t Like Twitter’s Trending Topics (6:30 a.m.)
Trump’s love-hate relationship with Twitter added another chapter Monday, as the president took aim at the social media site’s trending topics.
In an early evening tweet, the president said that “sooo many trends are about me, and never a good one,” saying it was “really ridiculous, illegal, and, of course, very unfair.”
So disgusting to watch Twitter’s so-called “Trending”, where sooo many trends are about me, and never a good one. They look for anything they can find, make it as bad as possible, and blow it up, trying to make it trend. Really ridiculous, illegal, and, of course, very unfair!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 27, 2020
Although Trump often complains about Twitter and says the platform is unfair to conservatives by muting their voices, he uses it regularly to amplify his message. Twitter’s trending topics are chosen by an algorithm, but Trump is not wrong that a lot of recent ones are about him.
A little-known Democratic group called MeidasTouch has managed to get hashtags like #ByeDonJr, #TrumpCantKeepItUp and #PardonMeTrump trending, while the conservative Lincoln Project has gotten #TrumpIsNotWell and other hashtags to trend.
After Trump’s tweet, “illegal” and #TrumpleThinSkin began trending.
Biden Has a Lot of ‘Hard Truths’ For Voters (6:30 a.m.)
In recent weeks, Biden has developed a habit of noting that he has a “hard truth” to share in prepared remarks and tweets.
“The hard truth is that it didn’t have to be this bad, but Donald Trump ignored the warnings and refused to take action,” the Democratic nominee tweeted recently about the coronavirus.
Biden most often uses the phrase to argue that Trump has mishandled the pandemic, saying it’s a “hard truth” that he downplayed the threat, that the pandemic will last longer because of him and that he failed to stop the related economic downturn.
But he’s also argued that it’s a “hard truth” that America has not yet reached gender equality, that Black Americans are more likely to die from gun violence, that “women -- and particularly women of color -- have never had a fair shot to get ahead in this country,” and that America “can’t just build back the way things were before these crises.”
The hard truth is women — and particularly women of color — have never had a fair shot to get ahead in this country. That's why today, I'm releasing my plan to make sure women can fully participate in our economy and country. https://t.co/vUWUanQAR0
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 27, 2020
Hitting back, Vice President Mike Pence said recently that it’s a “hard truth that you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America.”
Biden will give a speech in Wilmington, Delaware Tuesday on the fourth plank of his economic recovery proposals, which centers on racial economic equity and systemic racism.
Trump will give a coronavirus briefing at 5 p.m.
Pence will visit a private school in Apex, North Carolina, on Wednesday.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren will host a virtual fundraiser for Biden on Friday afternoon.
Bloomberg