Fearless Trump Tweets Same Quote That Once Got James Woods Suspended
President Donald Trump is not afraid of the big bad wolf that is the social media machine in Silicon Valley and he just showed it in a major way.
The president tweeted a variation of a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson that got famed actor and hardcore conservative James Woods banned from Twitter.
“‘Ralph Waldo Emerson seemed to foresee the lesson of the Senate Impeachment Trial of President Trump. “When you strike at the King, Emerson famously said, ‘you must kill him.”
“Mr. Trump’s foes struck at him but did not take him down. A triumphant Mr.Trump emerges from the biggest test of his presidency emboldened, ready to claim exoneration, and take his case of grievance, persecution and resentment to the campaign trail.’ Peter Baker @nytimes The Greatest Witch Hunt In American History!” the president wrote in a pair of tweets.
“Ralph Waldo Emerson seemed to foresee the lesson of the Senate Impeachment Trial of President Trump. ‘When you strike at the King, Emerson famously said, “you must kill him.’ Mr. Trump’s foes struck at him but did not take him down. A triumphant Mr.Trump emerges from the…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2020
…..biggest test of his presidency emboldened, ready to claim exoneration, and take his case of grievance, persecution and resentment to the campaign trail.” Peter Baker @nytimes The Greatest Witch Hunt In American History!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2020
The tweet got the attention of Woods, who said that the president must have remembered that he got suspended for a similar quote.
“Surely you remember that I was banned from #Twitter almost a year for paraphrasing this exact quote of Emerson’s, Mr. President,” Woods wrote.
“No words have ever been more relevant to the heinous jihad perpetrated against you by the vermin #Democrats and their media propagandists. #Trump2020.”
Surely you remember that I was banned from #Twitter almost a year for paraphrasing this exact quote of Emerson’s, Mr. President. No words have ever been more relevant to the heinous jihad perpetrated against you by the vermin #Democrats and their media propagandists. #Trump2020 https://t.co/uxjnrx24aC
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) February 17, 2020
There is no way to know, short of asking him, if Trump thought of Woods’ suspension when he sent the tweet, but if he did, it would be tantamount to daring Twitter to ban him.
Woods was furious when Twitter demanded he delete his tweet in order to have his account unlocked (sort of a quid pro quo) in May 2019.
And after Twitter deleted it without his permission, he went on a self-imposed hiatus from the platform.
“Twitter demanded that I rescind my tweet paraphrasing Emerson. It now seems they have chosen to delete that tweet from my account without my permission. Until free speech is allowed on Twitter, I will not be permitted to participate in our democracy with my voice,” Woods wrote in May.
“As long as Jack Dorsey remains the coward he seems to be, my Twitter days are in the past,” he said in a statement given to Ryan Saavedra of The Daily Wire.
“…I will not be permitted to participate in our democracy with my voice. As long as Jack Dorsey remains the coward he seems to be, my Twitter days are in the past.” (2/2)
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) May 10, 2019
“If you try to kill the king, you’d better not miss,” Woods said in the tweet that led to his hiatus with an added “#HangThemAll” in response to the Mueller report failure.
It is possible that it was not the Emerson quote, but the added “#HangThemAll” that was flagged by Twitter, but in either case, it is unlikely Twitter would attempt the same thing with the president.
Not if they want to stay in business.
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