President Trump met with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in the White House Tuesday and accused him of playing “political games” and tampering with his follower count.
A source with direct knowledge of the meeting told the Washington Post that Trump spent a large part of his meeting with Dorsey complaining that his follower count was not higher.
Trump complained Tuesday morning ahead of the meeting that Twitter was treating him unfairly.
“So true, but they don’t treat me well as a Republican. Very discriminatory, hard for people to sign on. Constantly taking people off list. Big complaints from many people,” Trump said in a tweet Tuesday morning.
“The best thing ever to happen to Twitter is Donald Trump.” @MariaBartiromo So true, but they don’t treat me well as a Republican. Very discriminatory, hard for people to sign on. Constantly taking people off list. Big complaints from many people. Different names-over 100 M…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 23, 2019
“But should be much higher than that if Twitter wasn’t playing their political games. No wonder Congress wants to get involved – and they should. Must be more, and fairer, companies to get out the WORD!” Trump said in another tweet.
…..But should be much higher than that if Twitter wasn’t playing their political games. No wonder Congress wants to get involved – and they should. Must be more, and fairer, companies to get out the WORD!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 23, 2019
Dorsey allegedly attempted to explain that Trump’s follower count had diminished at times because of periodic purges by Twitter, which deletes spam and bot accounts.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Trump tweeted that he looked “forward to keeping an open dialogue!”
Great meeting this afternoon at the @WhiteHouse with @Jack from @Twitter. Lots of subjects discussed regarding their platform, and the world of social media in general. Look forward to keeping an open dialogue! pic.twitter.com/QnZi579eFb
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 23, 2019
“Thank you for the time. Twitter is here to serve the entire public conversation, and we intend to make it healthier and more civil. Thanks for the discussion about that,” Dorsey responded to Trump’s tweet.
Thank you for the time. Twitter is here to serve the entire public conversation, and we intend to make it healthier and more civil. Thanks for the discussion about that.
— jack (@jack) April 23, 2019
Last September, Dorsey testified before Congress and defended his company against charges Twitter censors conservative viewpoints.
In the wake of the 2016 election, Twitter has stepped up its monitoring of accounts and content on its platform. Many conservatives have charged the company with unfairly censoring their viewpoints on the site.
