Will Elise Stefanik replace Liz Cheney in GOP leadership roll?
'Special Report' panel discuss Cheney's precarious role as GOP Conference chair
Twitter temporarily suspended the account of communications director for GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik late Wednesday, reinstating it Thursday morning.
Karoline Leavitt, Stefanik's communications director, in an interview with Fox News Tuesday morning, said she was given no explanation from Twitter after she was locked out of her account Wednesday night.
A Twitter spokesperson told Fox News that the account was suspended "in error."
"This has been reversed, and the account has been reinstated," the spokesperson said. "The account's followers will take 24-48 hours to fully restore."
Karoline Leavitt, communications director for Rep. Elise Stefanik, was suspended from Twitter Wednesday night. (Karoline Leavitt)
"The only reason I can think that Twitter would have suspended me is that I followed several Republican members of Congress and GOP activists at once last night, and within minutes, my account had been suspended," Leavitt told Fox News.
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Leavitt, who worked at the White House during the Trump administration, said her last posts were all related to Stefanik's efforts to replace Rep. Liz Cheney as House Republican Conference chair, including a retweet of a post previewing Stefanik's interview on Steve Bannon's show.
Leavitt also told Fox News she tweeted out a link to former President Trump’s new communications platform, "From the Desk of Donald J. Trump."
"Maybe because I'm sharing former President Trump’s website and tweeted out the official link?" Leavitt speculated.
"Republicans have been screaming from the rooftops for months that if they can silence the president of the United States, they can silence you," Leavitt continued. "That is not just a Republican talking point. That is the truth. That’s what’s happening here."
Leavitt said she is the "spokesperson for an official member of Congress going through one of her most contested news cycles in her career."
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"I need access to the platform," she said. "The fact that Twitter is suspending me for no rhyme or reason is insane."
Stefanik herself weighed in, breaking the news of Leavitt’s suspension.
"BIG TECH on the MOVE! Twitter just suspended my Communications Director," Stefanik tweeted, calling it an "unconstitutional overreach SILENCING our voices and freedom of speech."
"Republicans are united in fighting back against Big Tech’s tyranny," Stefanik said. "Millions of Americans will not be silenced!"
The move comes just a day after Facebook’s Oversight Board decided to uphold Trump’s ban from Facebook and Instagram, which Facebook instated in January. The board, though, said it was "not appropriate" for Facebook to impose the "indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension," and gave the company six months to review the decision of whether to ban Trump for good.
After the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, Trump was permanently suspended from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and YouTube.
Trump, this week, rolled out a new communications platform, which allows him to post comments, images and videos, and allows followers to share the former president's posts to Twitter and Facebook, though it does not have a feature letting users reply or engage with Trump's posts.
"In a time of silence and lies, a beacon of freedom arises. A place to speak freely and safely," a video announcing the new platform said. "Straight from the desk of Donald J. Trump."
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The technology is powered by Campaign Nucleus — the "digital ecosystem made for efficiently managing political campaigns and organizations," created by Trump's former campaign manager Brad Parscale.
Meanwhile, Stefanik, R-N.Y., has been making calls to gin up support for a challenge to Cheney, R-Wyo., Fox News confirmed this week. She has gained the support of top House Republicans as well, including Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La.
"House Republicans need to be solely focused on taking back the House in 2022 and fighting against Speaker Pelosi and President Biden's radical socialist agenda, and Elise Stefanik is strongly committed to doing that, which is why Whip Scalise has pledged to support her for Conference Chair," Scalise spokesperson Lauren Fine told Fox News.
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Trump also said he supports Stefanik for the leadership post.
Trump called Cheney a "warmonger" with "virtually no support left in the Great State of Wyoming," and repeated his past false statements that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Cheney has repeatedly pushed back on Trump's false statements about the election.
"Liz Cheney is a warmongering fool who has no business in Republican Party Leadership," Trump said. "We want leaders who believe in the Make America Great Again movement, and prioritize the values of America First. Elise Stefanik is a far superior choice, and she has my COMPLETE and TOTAL Endorsement for GOP Conference Chair. Elise is a tough and smart communicator!"
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