President's Tweet 'Glorifying Violence' Sparks 'Ban Trump From Twitter' and 'Donald Trump Is Over Party' Trends

By Allison Schonter

Social media is applauding Twitter's decision to flag an early Friday morning tweet from President Donald Trump with a "public interest notice," explaining that it violated the social media's policy "regarding the glorification of violence." Shortly after users took notice of the warning now attached to the tweet, which Twitter chose not to remove due to "its relevance to ongoing matters of public importance," the hashtags "Ban Trump from Twitter" and "Donald Trump is Over Party" began trending as users spoke out against the comments and praised the company for its action.

Twitter's action, in which they hid the president's tweet with a notice, was sparked in response to a post shared by the president at 12:53 a.m. ET. Reacting to the riots taking place in Minneapolis, Minnesota in response to the death of George Floyd, who was seen on camera begging for his life as a white police officer knelt on his neck, Trump, in part, wrote that "any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts." In Twitter's notice, the company explained that it took action "based on the historical context of the last line, its connection to violence, and the risk it could inspire similar actions today," as the remark mirrored that of Walter E. Headley, a Miami police chief in the 1960s who stated, among other things, that "when the looting starts, the shooting starts" when announcing a "get tough" campaign in 1967.

While Trump not so subtly responded to the move with a tweet blasting social media companies, just the latest instance of him criticizing social media in recent days, Twitter erupted with responses. Friday morning, both the "Ban Trump from Twitter" and the "Donald Trump is Over Party" trended on the social media platform in response. Meanwhile, the official account for the White House has quoted the president's now-flagged remarks in its own tweet, which has not yet been flagged by Twitter. Keep scrolling to see what social media has to say about the president’s remarks and Twitter’s decision to flag the post.

Start the Conversation

of