On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Lead” 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) argued President Donald Trump being banned from Twitter was not a “violation of free speech” because it is a “privilege” to use that platform.
Partial transcript as follows:
HARRIS: Well, we’ll see as the impeachment process proceeds, but I will say, Jake, it is a classic case in terms of what he has been doing as it relates to the whistleblower, in an attempt to suppress evidence and intimidate a witness, which is why I’ve also called on Donald Trump’s Twitter privileges to be revoked, because he has even as many other members of Congress have indicated, he seems to be eliciting fear and threatening a witness to what could be a crime against America, our democracy and try to suppress that evidence. That is a classic example of a crime.
TAPPER: I guess the question about— I know you wrote to Twitter and the CEO, Jack Dorsey, and asked him to take away the president’s Twitter handle, his account. How is that not a violation of free speech? I mean, the president has the same rights that you have, that I have. How would that not be a slippery slope where they have to ban half the people on Twitter?
HARRIS: I’ve heard that argument, but here is the thing, Jake. First of all, a corporation, which is what Twitter is, has obligations. In this case, Twitter has terms of use policy. And their terms of use dictate who receives the privilege of speaking on that platform and who does not. And Donald Trump has clearly violated the terms of use. There should be a consequence for that. Not to mention he has used his platform, president of the United States, in a way that’s been about inciting fear and potentially inciting harm against a witness to what might be a crime against our country and our democracy. And for that reason, I do believe that it’s clear that he has violated the terms of use. And I’m asking that Twitter does what it has done in previous locations, which is to revoke someone’s privilege because they’ve not lived up to the advantages of the privilege.
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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