If you polled American voters right now and asked them what the most important issue in the country is, you’d probably get a list that included the COVID-19 pandemic, health care, and the economy
But it’s safe to say one issue that probably wouldn’t be on that list is social media and its alleged bias against conservatives.
And yet, according to Eric Trump, the president’s son and executive vice president of the Trump Organization, the top issue in American politics is that he doesn’t get as many “likes” on Twitter and Facebook as he thinks he should.
During an appearance on the Fox News show “The Ingraham Angle,” Eric went on an extended whinefest, telling host Laura Ingraham that based on “engagements and likes” on his social media accounts, conservatives are being censored, adding:
“You better believe they also have their fingers on the dial. If I put something out that they disagree with, the numbers are down. I can just see it based on engagements and likes… they are censoring us, they don’t do it to the other side and its gross.
“But Americans are seeing through it, believe me Americans see through it. And quite frankly, the one you don’t want to do to Americans is take away their free speech. This is our First Amendment right for a reason. I think it’s actually probably become the No. 1 issue in politics”
Eric Trump claims his social media likes are being throttled and he thinks that’s become the number one issue in politics over the past few weeks pic.twitter.com/mzbrPjD8rX
— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) October 29, 2020
Of course, what Eric is failing to realize or understand is that his First Amendment right doesn’t apply to platforms that are privately owned. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. can remove anything you post on their sites, and you agree to that when you sign up to open an account. It’s part of the deal. If Eric was too lazy to read that agreement and the terms of service, that’s his fault. But it doesn’t mean there’s some nefarious conspiracy to keep him from getting the likes or engagements he thinks he deserves.
Just the fact that Eric Trump thinks he or the government has a right to tell social media companies to make sure both sides of the political spectrum get equal coverage is bullshit. If he dislikes what they’re doing so damn much, why doesn’t he take some of his daddy’s money and start his own right-wing social media site?
If Donald Trump does happen to get a second term in office, all of us can kiss our First Amendment rights goodbye. And that alone is reason enough to kick the entire Trump family to the curb.