MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Hogan Gidley trolled for saying Donald Trump can't denounce Capitol riot due to Twitter ban: 'Think we're stupid?'

The president's re-election campaign aide blasted the media for playing it both ways, a week after calling Trump the most masculine president the US has ever had

President Donald Trump might have failed in his effort to reverse the result of the 2020 presidential election and following the violence at Capitol Hill on January 6, looks like he is in danger to go down in history as the worst American president. However, not all his followers have not stopped admiring him. One of them is Hogan Gidley, the press secretary of the incumbent president’s re-election campaign who recently said that the maverick Republican could not denounce the Capitol Hill riots because he had no platform to do so after his ban on various social media sites. Gidley was ridiculed for his remarks.

Media trying to have it both ways: Gidley

On Sunday, January 17, Gidley appeared on Fox News where he also said that Trump’s claims over election fraud came from the “attorneys and advisers” and he himself “doesn’t make these things up”. Gidley, who served as a former White House deputy press secretary, slammed the media saying it was trying to have it both ways while speaking about calls for Trump to criticize the riot at the Capitol when the Congress met to count the electoral votes to affirm Joe Biden as the president-elect.

Trump was accused of inciting his supporters to storm the seat of the Congress and while major social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook banned him, the Democratic-controlled House also impeached him, second time in 13 months. 

Taking on the media, Gidley told Fox: “On the one hand, (media says) he should be censored by big tech and not be allowed to talk. He also shouldn’t say anything because it's divisive. And then when he doesn't say anything and can’t say anything because the platform have removed him, they say, 'Where's the president? Why aren’t we hearing from him?' The whole thing is disingenuous."

The world of social media also found itself shockingly polarized following Trump's ban. The event was followed by tech and e-commerce giants such as Apple, Google and Amazon targeting Parler — a conservative social media site which Trump reportedly joined after his ban on Twitter and which includes a number of his family members and sympathizers. Parler’s legal team also made a filing in the court last week claiming that its CEO John Matze and his family had to go into hiding after receiving life threats. 

Gidley also faced a temporary Twitter ban recently

Gidley has been tweeting since Trump faced a Twitter ban and his feed remains one of the few social media outlets the president can use to convey his message. But Gidley’s account might run into trouble if he tries to share messages directly from the president. It was not too long ago that Twitter imposed a temporary suspension on Gidley’s account after he posted a tweet about being sent an absentee ballot meant for somebody else.

Gidley tweeted about getting an envelope in the mail that was addressed to someone known by the name of “Daniel”. “Got ‘my’...uh wait...no…”Daniel’s” ballot in the mail?!? Who is that? Apparently it’s a former tenant who hasn’t lived in the unit for 8 YEARS!!! But yeah, sure...the mainstream media is correct...unsolicited vote-by-mail is ‘totally safe’.” Twitter, as it often blue-flagged Trump’s tweets alleging mail-in ballots led to voter fraud, temporarily restricted Gidley’s account for the mocking tweet on grounds of “violating our rules against posting misleading information about voting”.

Last week, in another interview on Fox, Gidley claimed that Trump is “the most masculine president to ever hold the White House”. He said this when the host, Bill Hemmer, asked him whether the outgoing president felt “emasculated” by the social media crackdown. “I wouldn't say emasculated. The most masculine person, I think, to ever hold the White House is the president of the United States,” Gidley responded. 

Gidley, who had a talk with the president the weekend before, was asked how Trump planned to communicate with the people after his term at the White House ends. “That remains to be seen. As I said, you can absolutely censor us. You can't silence us. And we’ll see how the president reacts, and we'll see what Twitter and Facebook decide to do with his accounts,” the aide said, adding: “There are obviously a lot of options out there. Whether he ends up creating his own entity, we’ll wait and see, but the president of the United States most assuredly is going to be able to communicate with his followers and the American people one way or the other.”

Gidley ridiculed on Twitter

Hogan's claim that Trump could not denounce the January 6 riot because he had no platform to do so received flak on Twitter. Leadership advisor Scott Monty reacted on Twitter saying: "Do they think we're that stupid?"

Journalist Hugo Lowell slammed Gidley in a tweet to say if he wanted, Trump could hold a press conference at any time. "Former Trump campaign spokesman Hogan Gidley seriously just said on Fox News that Trump can’t denounce the Capitol attack because he doesn’t have a “platform”. Trump can hold a press conference at any time."

CNN journalist Ana Cabrera also expressed her disbelief over Gidley's remarks. In a tweet, she said: "I can't believe I'm writing this. Campaign spokesperson Hogan Gidley claims on Fox News President Trump can't denounce Capitol attack more because he doesn't have a platform. '(He) can't say anything because the platforms have removed him,' Gidley says."

Another user said: "I remember when Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address via tweet."