Trump’s Twitter account ‘permanently suspended’

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s Twitter account was “permanently suspended” Friday night, two days after his rhetoric and tweets were widely blamed for sparking a violent siege of the U.S. Capitol that left five people dead.

“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,” the company said in a tweet.

Just a day earlier, the company had reinstated the president’s account, which is followed by more than 88 million people, after a temporary suspension in response to his messages of support to rioters as the insurrection was underway at the Capitol.

Explaining the reasoning behind the ban, Twitter referenced the possibility of the president’s account, having already stoked the passions of his supporters, to incite future violence: “Plans for future armed protests have already begun proliferating on and off-Twitter, including a proposed secondary attack on the U.S. Capitol and state capitol buildings on January 17, 2021.”

The move came as House Democrats announced they would vote next week on a new article of impeachment against Trump for his role in inciting the mob that smashed its way into the Capitol on Wednesday. But whatever happens with that effort, the aggressive de-platforming of the increasingly isolated president had already begun, with Trump suddenly deprived of an emotional release valve and most vital mass communication tool.

And Google followed up Friday evening by announcing that Parler — a Twitter alternative increasingly seen as a refuge for the incendiary rhetoric increasingly barred by other platforms, and a possible haven for Trump

— would no longer be available for download on its App Store, citing “continued posting ... seeking to incite violence.”

Trump, whose has used Twitter constantly over the last four years to disseminate information, announce the firings of staffers, insult enemies, praise allies and express his real-time reactions to the news, has long answered criticism of his tweets by asserting that the platform enabled him to bypass the mainstream media entirely.