While it’s hard to imagine notorious tweeter Donald Trump moving to shut down Twitter, the man is nothing if not an ardent grudge-holder. Following Twitter’s decision to hit Trump’s complaints about mail order voting with an “unsubstantiated” warning — essentially inviting viewers to get the actual facts on mail-order voting– Trump took a page out of his favorite playbook and lashed out with threats of regulation and shutdown.
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“Republicans feel that social media platforms totally silence conservative voices,” he wrote, earlier this morning. “We will strongly regulate or close them down before we can ever allow this to happen.” He proceeds to warn about the dangers of conducting a mail-order election cycle, doubling down on his concerns that such a practice would lead to an influx of cheating.
“We can’t let large scale Mail-In Ballots take root in our Country,” he writes. “It would be a free for all on cheating, forgery and the theft of Ballots. Whoever cheated the most would win. Likewise, Social Media. Clean up your act, NOW!!!!” At this point, it’s unclear as to whether Twitter, Facebook, or any social media platform will respond to Trump’s warning. It is clear, however, that he did not take kindly to having his authority questioned so publically. Whether he actually intends on moving forward with his threats — should he even possess that sort of power to begin with — is anybody’s guess.