House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is among the many Americans who appear to be fed up with President Donald Trump’s inane conspiracy theories, which recently have featured the allegations that social media platforms like Twitter are somehow out to get the president and other prominent conservatives. Asked at a press conference this Thursday about the president’s recent vitriol towards Twitter over their decision to place fact-checks on two of his lie-riddled tweets about mail-in voting, Pelosi fiercely derided the president for whining about his ego while Americans continue to suffer and die due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
She commented:
‘And then you see what the president is saying… they’ve all kind of exploited the truth. And some have made money off of it, and some have made political capital off of their misrepresentations. But what the president is doing is silly… let’s say this: it’s a distraction. I opened this meeting talking about testing, how it’s going to save lives, and open our economy, send our kids back to school, save lives, and the rest — [and now] we’re talking about Twitter. So let’s get back to saving lives, okay?’
Check it out below:
Pelosi says Mark Zuckerberg "just panders" to Trump, describes Facebook's business model as "to misrepresent the facts," and then describes Trump's tantrum over Twitter as "silly" and "a distraction" from the public health and economic crises stemming from coronavirus pic.twitter.com/zMoLc13wWc
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 28, 2020
Some observers have suggested that Trump got “bored” with the Coronavirus before he moved on to some of his most inane conspiracies about supposed plots against him and other prominent conservatives. As MSNBC host Chris Hayes put it, “Something painfully obvious is that once he stopped doing his daily two-hour rallies at the podium, he got completely bored with coronavirus and now just wants to do other stuff.”
Something painfully obvious is that once he stopped doing his daily two-hour rallies at the podium, he got completley bored with coronavirus and now just wants to do other stuff. https://t.co/lEKhAUXBfJ
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) May 15, 2020
Now, Trump has decided to issue an abrupt executive order targeting social media companies following his own complaints about Twitter’s decision to post basic facts next to a pair of his own tweets. The order has been reported to be designed to remove liability protections for social media companies that could shield them from legal action over something that unfolds on the site.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has actually come out in favor of the president’s position. He insisted in a recent interview that companies like Facebook should not be “arbiters of truth” and insisted that it’s “dangerous” to determine “what is true.” Basic truth, however, is not a matter of political opinion — although the Trump campaign has been using Facebook to spread nonsense-riddled ads as if that were actually the case.
Mark Zuckerberg doesn't think Facebook or any internet platform "should be arbiters of truth," then calls it "dangerous" to decide "what is true." pic.twitter.com/eHKwjwH4n6
— The Recount (@therecount) May 28, 2020
Pelosi commented this Thursday:
‘You see what Zuckeberg is saying today about this. Tax cuts, no regulation, our business model is to misrepresent the facts and to be a platform to do that and try to hide under freedom of speech, which is of course a complete violation of everything that freedom of speech stands for. They know — they knew during the 2016 elections that the Russians were engaged in foul play. They knew, because they saw where the money was coming from. It never occurred to them to check on that.’
Trump and his allies have consistently sought to downplay the kind of threats from misinformation that the House Speaker is talking about.
