Twitter bans Trump, citing risk of violent incitement; McMorris Rodgers criticizes decision as ‘censorship’

Twitter banned President Donald Trump’s account Friday, citing “the risk of further incitement of violence.”

The social platform has been under growing pressure to take further action against Trump following Wednesday’s deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Twitter initially suspended Trump’s account for 12 hours after he posted a video that repeated false claims about election fraud and praised the rioters who stormed the Capitol.

Twitter’s move deprives Trump of a potent tool he has used to communicate directly with the American people for more than a decade. He has used Twitter to announce policy changes, challenge opponents, insult enemies, praise his allies (and himself), and to spread misinformation.

Twitter posted a lengthy explanation of its reasons for permanently suspending Trump’s account on its blog.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers (WA-R) criticized the decision on her own Twitter account, describing it as “censoring a sitting POTUS” and claiming the ban “has significant free speech consequences that will extend far beyond his time in office.

“While the 1st Amendment does not apply, its spirit & the principle should.”

In another tweet, she reasserted that “President Trump needs to unequivocally condemn the violence,” adding that “He did the right thing by using his platform to lower the temperature and commit to a peaceful transition of power.

“That’s now been blocked. What good does that do?”