Despite the rigors posed by a nonstop reelection campaign, social unrest and a raging pandemic, President Trump took a moment to right a wrong done to New Jersey Women for Trump, a 30,000-member private grassroots group in the Garden State that had a serious run-in with social media.
“We are very vocal in our support for the president. We’ve put a lot of volunteer effort into what we do. On Saturday, our Facebook page simply disappeared. It was gone, with no notice. They silenced us,” Priscilla Confrey, who co-founded the organization over a year ago, told The Washington Times.
Then came a surprise. After a 12-hour day of campaigning, Mr. Trump took to Twitter very, very early Sunday with a message directed to Facebook, tweeted on behalf of the New Jersey group.
“Put them back on, now,” Mr. Trump told the social media giant. Eight hours later, the bustling Facebook page was up and running.
“Facebook stated that they made an ’enforcement error’. Thank you!” The president tweeted in response.
The incident was both an unforgettable experience and a teachable moment for the New Jersey ladies who had supported Mr. Trump from the get-go.
“We were so honored and thankful to the president. To help us out at 1 a.m., to defend a grassroots group that is not even in a battleground state — well, that was pretty extraordinary,” Ms. Confrey said.
“We also learned something. Social media companies are not news media — but I believe they should be held accountable and observe standards, similar to the news media. The social media companies have too much power. This is definitely something for Congress to examine in the future,” she observed.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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