Trump is using his presidency and lawyers at the Department of Justice to ask the Supreme Court to allow him to block people on Twitter.
In its Thursday petition to the Supreme Court, attorneys for the Justice Department (DOJ) urged the justices to overturn a unanimous ruling from a three-judge panel of the New York-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit against Trump.
DOJ argued that the appeals court had erred by finding Trump’s Twitter account to be a public forum, and failed to adequately recognize that much of Trump’s social media posts constitute private rather than governmental speech.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
It is doubtful that the Supreme Court will hear Trump’s appeal because unlike Trump, they have better things to do with their time. However, if the appeal was heard, Trump has admitted that he views his Twitter account as his White House communications office, and he uses Twitter to put out “press releases” as he calls them. Trump has used his account to announce official policy decisions and personnel changes.
Trump is not a private citizen, so he is not entitled to the same speech as an ordinary Twitter user. With roughly two and a half months to go before the presidential election, Donald Trump is wasting government resources trying to get the Supreme Court to allow him to block people on Twitter.
For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.
Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
