Twitter Permanently Bans Steve Bannon as He and Others Call for Violence

Twitter has permanently banned Steve Bannon after he used the platform to call for the beheading of Dr. Anthony Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Bannon, a former chief strategist under Donald Trump, made the comments in a video that he posted to his YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. The video has since come down from two of those three platforms. While YouTube simply removed the video, claiming that it incited violence, Twitter went a step further, insisting that, for glorifying such harm, Bannon ought to be permanently banished from the platform.

“Heads on Pikes”

Bannon made the controversial remarks during a live stream of his show, War Room: Pandemic. Discussing Fauci and Wray, who have worked in Washington for years but were not Trump appointees, Bannon said that Trump should fire them both, and then some.

“I’d put the heads on pikes,” Bannon said of the two non-partisan figures. “Right. I’d put them at the two corners of the White House, as a warning to federal bureaucrats. You either get with the program or you are gone.”

Additionally, Bannon falsely claimed that Trump had won the 2020 general election, which no reputable news source had reported. (At the time of this article’s writing, few reputable news sources had yet called the race, though most gave Trump’s rival, Joe Biden, a clear edge).

Additionally, Mailchimp, an e-mail newsletter platform that Bannon’s podcast has used to promote its message, also banned the former White House aide. As a result, Bannon’s ability to reach supporters has become notably hobbled.

Talk of Violence

Bannon is not the only high-profile Trump supporter to use violent rhetoric as the President himself continues to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election. While President Trump has baselessly accused Democrats of “stealing” a “rigged” election, his son, Donald Trump Jr., has amped up the message in more extreme terms. On Thursday, the younger Trump tweeted that his father should “go to total war over this election.” While he probably meant a figurative war through the court system, it nonetheless contributes to a growing effort to throw the election’s legitimacy into doubt.

Earlier on Thursday, Facebook shut down a group called “Stop the Steal,” which encouraged its hundreds of thousands of Trump-supporting followers to protest the counting of ballots. The group’s argument is based on the President’s assertion that some faceless enemies in the government were actively stealing the election through a secretive vote-counting process. Every reputable news source has rejected such accusations while officials in states like Pennsylvania and Nevada have assured voters that all tallying efforts were being done under the utmost security.

Facebook pulled the plug on “Stop the Steal” because members were allegedly posting violent messages about “overthrowing the government” in the case that Joe Biden wins the election. Others posted about a brewing civil war or armed revolt against the state.

Reprinted with permission from https://werax.com/twitter-permanently-bans-steve-bannon-as-he-and-others-call-for-violence/