Pro-abortion leftists took to Twitter in a frenzy after Politico published a leaked U.S. Supreme Court document that could overturn Roe v. Wade (1973). While then-President Donald Trump was banned from Twitter for a supposed risk of inciting violence, several tweets from media figures about the leaked SCOTUS draft seem to violate Twitter policy on violent threats or hateful conduct.
Several media figures used their verified Twitter accounts to use threatening language against U.S. Supreme Court justices or pro-life Americans more generally. The Nation’s Washington, D.C. correspondent Aida Chavez explicitly supported threats against pro-life SCOTUS justices and Canadian radio host Dean Blundell called pro-life Christians “fucking idiot[s].” Vox senior correspondent Ian Millhiser also joined in the leftist choir against the draft opinion commending the “hero” who leaked the document.
Twitter’s policies state that the platform “prohibit[s] the glorification of violence,” including through threats. Twitter policy also prohibits attacks based on “religious affiliation.”
Chávez seemingly endorsed violence against pro-life SCOTUS justices on Twitter. Pro-life podcast host Allie Beth Stuckey tweeted, “Conservative justices will have their lives and the lives of their families threatened. The person who leaked this knows that.” Chávez replied, “good.” Stuckey then tweeted out a screenshot of her original tweet, including Chávez’s reply. Chávez then doubled down, commenting in a tweet: “cry about it.”
In a similar line to Chávez, Millhiser tweeted, “Seriously, shout out to whoever the hero was within the Supreme Court who said ‘fuck it! Let’s burn this place down.’” The journalist’s incendiary language seems to break Twitter’s rules on violent threats. Millhiser later tweeted: “It seems wrong that Donald Trump tried to overthrow the United States government, and we just let the people he placed on the bench continue to make decisions that bind the government Trump failed to unlawfully remove.” Millhiser also wrote a piece on the leaked opinion for Vox, with the subheading, “Justice Samuel Alito’s leaked opinion is a full-bore attack on the right to an abortion.”
Blundell tweeted a video of himself going on a profanity-laced screed against “evangelical” Christians, whom Blundell blames for the potential overturning of Roe. “These people are so fucked in the head, they’re willing to die for something that they’ve never seen before, which is totally fucking false,” Blundell ranted, claiming that the Bible was written in 1611 by King James. “It comes from just full fucking stupidity. You cannot be smart and be super fucking religious,” Blundell added. “Every one of you is a fucking idiot.” Twitter’s “Hateful conduct” policy prohibits “directly attack[ing]” someone based on “religious affiliation,” and states: “We prohibit inciting behavior that targets individuals or groups of people belonging to protected categories.”
In contrast to leftist hysteria, MRC President Brent Bozell tweeted about the leak and its fallout, “The pending decision to overturn Roe was leaked so the left and the media could do everything possible to sway the court.” Bozell added, “Pray they fail and millions of unborn babies are saved.”
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