GOP Rep. Hartzler suspended from Twitter over ‘men pretending to be women’ tweet

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U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, a Republican Senate candidate from Missouri, was suspended from Twitter after tweeting about transgender women in sports.

"Women’s sports are for women, not men pretending to be women," she tweeted Monday afternoon from her campaign account.

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Hartzler’s campaign manager, Michael Hafner, tweeted a screenshot of Twitter’s response to the offending tweet, and he accused the social media company of reaching the "height of stupidity."

Twitter’s notice, according to the screenshot, said Hartzler’s tweet violated the company’s rules against "hateful conduct."

"You may not promote violence against, threaten, or harass other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease," Twitter said.

Hartzler’s tweet repeated a line from a TV ad she released last month that highlighted University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, a trans woman who has been dominating on the women’s team since transitioning from a male.

Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., delivers pizza to members of the Delaware National Guard on Jan. 13, 2021. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Hartzler also tweeted the line on Feb. 14 and included the ad in her tweet. The ad features Thomas' former name, William, and Twitter has rules against using the former names of trans people, which is known as deadnaming.

"Vladimir Putin is a murderous psychopath who invaded a sovereign nation causing death and destruction, and is currently allowed to tweet," the campaign said in a statement. "Yet, Twitter believes the bigger threat is a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee saying women’s sports are for women. It's shameful, utterly ridiculous, and a horrible abuse of censorship by big tech giants to stifle free speech."

Twitter told Fox News Digital in a statement that the account can be reinstated 12 hours after the tweet is deleted.

"The Tweet you referenced violated the Twitter Rules on hateful conduct," Twitter said. "The account owner will need to delete the violative Tweet and spend 12 hours in read-only mode before regaining full access to their account. 

"Per that policy, we prohibit targeting others with repeated slurs, tropes or other content that intends to dehumanize, degrade or reinforce negative or harmful stereotypes about a protected category. This includes targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals."

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Hartzler's campaign told Fox News Digital that Hartzler has no plans to delete the tweet, and that the account remains suspended. The campaign has not been punished for any previous tweets, it said.

Hartzler, who has been endorsed by Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is running for Republican Sen. Roy Blunt’s seat.