Twitter made the unprecedented move to ban Trump from the platform after the Capitol insurrection, with the company saying it was permanently suspending Trump “due to the risk of further incitement of violence”.
Twitter will uphold its ban on former President Donald Trump, even if he were to run for office again, according to the company’s chief financial officer (CFO), Ned Segal said.
Yet, as delightful as it is not to have the threat of Trump’s tweet missiles raining on us, there are significant downsides to his exile. Three, in particular, stand out.
First of all and most importantly, as it is said ‘silence is the most powerful scream’. Similarly, people will start thinking that Trump no longer matters which is a very big mistake. Maybe out of his office, but the former president’s dark forces like nativism, white supremacy and autocracy will be with us for a long time.
Secondly, another reason why Trump’s banishment can make him more dangerous is that now the former president is operating and controlling the Republican Party behind the curtains. Trump’s leadership PAC has $85 million cash on hand ahead of the 2022 midterm elections and as the former POTUS hints at a potential 2024 run.
He is still raging war against his enemies but this time in a different manner – like an event at Mar-a-Lago where he called Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell “a dumb son of a bitch.”
You don’t need Twitter to know that Trump is viciously anti-trans. Just in case you need a reminder, Trump gave a speech in February in which he repeatedly attacked transgender athletes as “biological males” who will “destroy women’s sports.”
Last but the most pernicious downside to Trump’s social media freeze is that it allows GOP to rewrite history, particularly when it comes to Trump’s role in the deadly January 6 Capitol insurrection.
Earlier, the ex-POTUS had an advantage of having a public platform – he was transparent about his motives and beliefs. For instance, the election was stolen, the insurrectionists were acting on his behalf (or alternately, were left-wing plants), and nothing he did was wrong, let alone impeachable, etc.