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Twitter labeled Trump tweets with a fact check for the first time
Trump had made false statements about the threat of voter fraud posed by the expansion of mail-in voting in California.
After telling 18,000+ lies and pushing innumerable conspiracy theories since the 2017 inauguration, it's high time Trump was held accountable for his media disinformation. He's every bit as bad as the Russians.
Related: Twitter has started fact-checking Trump's tweets
Trump had made false statements about the threat of voter fraud posed by the expansion of mail-in voting in California.
5/27/20
For the first time, Twitter called tweets from Donald Trump "potentially misleading" — a decision that prompted the president to accuse the social media platform of election meddling. On Tuesday, Twitter highlighted two of Trump's tweets that falsely claimed mail-in ballots would lead to widespread voter fraud, appending a message the company has introduced to combat misinformation and disputed or unverified claims. "Get the facts about mail-in ballots," read the message beneath each tweet. It linked to a curated fact-check page the platform had created filled with further links and summaries of news articles debunking the assertion. Twitter said the move was aimed at providing "context" around Trump's remarks. But Twitter's unprecedented decision is likely to raise further questions about its willingness to consistently apply the label to other Trump tweets that have been deemed misleading by third parties, particularly as the president has lobbed baseless allegations against former Rep. Joe Scarborough regarding the death of a congressional staffer years ago.
Trump's allegations draw on a discredited conspiracy theory claiming, without evidence, that Scarborough played a role in the 2001 death of then-staffer Lori Klausutis. The reckless claims are undermined by the official autopsy, which found Klausutis had an undiagnosed heart condition. Shortly after the labels were applied, Trump took to Twitter to claim the company "is interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election" and "stifling FREE SPEECH." He added that he "will not allow it to happen!" Twitter declined to comment on Trump's claims. Twitter said Tuesday that Trump's tweets about mail-in voting did not violate the company's rules because they don't explicitly discourage people from voting. But, the company said, the label offers context surrounding Trump's claims. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After telling 18,000+ lies and pushing innumerable conspiracy theories since the 2017 inauguration, it's high time Trump was held accountable for his media disinformation. He's every bit as bad as the Russians.
Related: Twitter has started fact-checking Trump's tweets