Team Mitch Proclaims 'Victory' in Twitter Tiff

Kentucky senator's campaign sees account reinstated after multiday lockdown
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 10, 2019 9:30 AM CDT
Team Mitch Proclaims 'Victory' in Twitter Tiff
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks in Fancy Farm, Ky., on Aug. 3, 2019.   (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Team Mitch is back—on Twitter, that is. Sen. Mitch McConnell's campaign was effectively taken offline Wednesday on the social media platform after Twitter locked the account, claiming it had violated the site's "violent threats policy." The offending post that led to the lockdown was a video of protesters that included threats against the Senate majority leader. On Friday, however, after an outcry from outraged GOPers who claimed bias against conservatives, Twitter noted it had more carefully looked at the case and decided to reinstate the account, per the Daily Beast. In a series of tweets, the site said there'd been "a clear violation of the Twitter Rules," but that "after multiple appeals from affected users and Leader McConnell's team confirming their intent to highlight the threats for public discussion, we have reviewed this case more closely."

Twitter added the video could remain on the site, but with a "sensitive media interstitial," and "only in cases where the Tweet content does not otherwise violate the Twitter Rules." Team Mitch reacted with a GIF of McConnell and a celebratory tweet: "Victory!!! Thank you to EVERYONE for helping #FreeMitch." McConnell campaign manager Kevin Golden also waxed triumphant. "We are glad Twitter has reversed their decision to lock our Team Mitch account," he says in a statement cited by NBC News. "It is still deeply concerning that Twitter would ban us from posting a video of threats made against us but allow Liberal Hollywood celebrities to post exactly what we did without suffering the same penalty." It's not clear what he's referring to, though he did retweet a post referring to how comedian Sarah Silverman was able to keep a video up in which a Florida pastor said he hoped she died. (More Mitch McConnell stories.)

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