ROFLMAO KOO KOO KING OF KLOWNS
Trump sues tech giants over 'illegal censorship'
2021-07-08
Former US president Donald Trump announced on Wednesday he is filing a class-action lawsuit against Facebook, Twitter and Google, escalating his years-long free speech battle with tech giants who he argues have wrongfully censored him.
"I'm filing, as the lead class representative, a major class-action lawsuit against the big tech giants including Facebook, Google and Twitter as well as their CEOs, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Jack Dorsey -- three real nice guys," Trump told reporters at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
The nation's top tech firms have become the "enforcers of illegal, unconstitutional censorship," added the 75-year-old Republican, who was banned from posting on Facebook and Twitter in the wake of the deadly January 6 siege of the US Capitol by his supporters.
Trump says he is being joined in the suit by the America First Policy Institute and thousands of American citizens who have been "de-platformed" from social media sites.
"Through this lawsuit we are standing up for American democracy by standing up for free speech rights of every American -- Democrat, Republican, independent, whoever it may be," Trump said. "This lawsuit is just the beginning."
Trump said he is filing the suit in US District Court in southern Florida, where he is seeking an immediate halt to censorship, blacklisting and what he called the "cancelling" of people who share his political views.
Trump stressed that he is not looking for any sort of a settlement. "We're in a fight that we're going to win," he said.
Facebook banned Trump indefinitely on January 7 over his incendiary comments that preceded the Capitol insurrection by his supporters one day earlier.
Twitter quickly followed suit and permanently suspended Trump's account due to the "risk of further incitement of violence."
In June, following a review by Facebook's independent oversight board, Facebook narrowed the ban to two years.
Trump said YouTube and its parent organization Google have deleted "countless videos" addressing the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, including those that questioned the judgement of the World Health Organization.
The Republican billionaire, his allies and many supporters say the ban on Trump and others amount to censorship and abuse of their power.
"There is no better evidence that big tech is out of control than the fact that they banned the sitting president of the United States," Trump said.
Trump has begun a series of public engagements, including campaign-style rallies, as he seeks to maintain his status as the most influential Republican in the nation.
He has teased a potential 2024 presidential run but has made no announcement on his political future. (AFP)
"I'm filing, as the lead class representative, a major class-action lawsuit against the big tech giants including Facebook, Google and Twitter as well as their CEOs, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Jack Dorsey -- three real nice guys," Trump told reporters at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
The nation's top tech firms have become the "enforcers of illegal, unconstitutional censorship," added the 75-year-old Republican, who was banned from posting on Facebook and Twitter in the wake of the deadly January 6 siege of the US Capitol by his supporters.
Trump says he is being joined in the suit by the America First Policy Institute and thousands of American citizens who have been "de-platformed" from social media sites.
"Through this lawsuit we are standing up for American democracy by standing up for free speech rights of every American -- Democrat, Republican, independent, whoever it may be," Trump said. "This lawsuit is just the beginning."
Trump said he is filing the suit in US District Court in southern Florida, where he is seeking an immediate halt to censorship, blacklisting and what he called the "cancelling" of people who share his political views.
Trump stressed that he is not looking for any sort of a settlement. "We're in a fight that we're going to win," he said.
Facebook banned Trump indefinitely on January 7 over his incendiary comments that preceded the Capitol insurrection by his supporters one day earlier.
Twitter quickly followed suit and permanently suspended Trump's account due to the "risk of further incitement of violence."
In June, following a review by Facebook's independent oversight board, Facebook narrowed the ban to two years.
Trump said YouTube and its parent organization Google have deleted "countless videos" addressing the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, including those that questioned the judgement of the World Health Organization.
The Republican billionaire, his allies and many supporters say the ban on Trump and others amount to censorship and abuse of their power.
"There is no better evidence that big tech is out of control than the fact that they banned the sitting president of the United States," Trump said.
Trump has begun a series of public engagements, including campaign-style rallies, as he seeks to maintain his status as the most influential Republican in the nation.
He has teased a potential 2024 presidential run but has made no announcement on his political future. (AFP)
Rev › Blog › Transcripts › Donald Trump Press Conference Transcripts › Donald Trump Press Conference Announcement Transcript: Sues Facebook, Twitter, Google Over Censorship Claims
Former President Donald Trump held a press conference on July 7, 2021 to announce his lawsuit against Facebook, Twitter, and Google over censorship claims. Read the transcript of the briefing announcement here.
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Brooke Rollins: (00:00)
… In the way. There’s no topic on which they, the elites, the big firms, the progressives, the office holders and the bureaucrats, there is no other topic that they are seeing as a bigger obstacle to achieve their ambitions than the first amendment. The first amendment, the bulwark of our liberties, is what enables us as citizens to resist them at every turn. The first amendment truly stands between them and us. When they try to tell us what to read, the first amendment gets in their way. When they try to tell us what to think, the first amendment gets in their way.
Brooke Rollins: (00:42)
When they try to tell us what to believe, the first amendment gets in their way. And when they try to tell us with whom to worship, with whom to associate, with whom to congregate and with whom to be friends, the first amendment gets in their way. It’s no surprise then that they want the first amendment gone. They don’t advocate for abolition of course, they know better than that. But they do advocate for curtailing it into meaninglessness. Nowhere is that more evident than in the suppression of first amendment rights online. In just a minute, the President will talk about this and what he intends to do about it.
Brooke Rollins: (01:28)
It’s enough for me to say this. What was just a decade back a mere fiction of paranoid dystopia, a handful of technology companies effectively seizing control of the American public square, is now our own present reality. Against them, this president fights for you as he always has and as he always will. Ultimately, the issue at hand is the same issue that has gripped the nation since the day, almost exactly six years ago, when Donald Trump made his famous escalator ride into history, becoming Candidate Trump, and then Nominee Trump, and then President Trump.
Brooke Rollins: (02:12)
The issue is simply this. It was then, it is today. Who rules in America? Is it a handful of unaccountable and unelected elites who concoct and enforce standards arbitrarily? If so, we should pack up the American experiment, call the American dream done, issue aristocratic titles and be done with the charade. Or are the rulers of this country still the people, the democratic citizenry who do honest work every single day and ask only for a fair and equitable treatment in return? We need that answer. This country just finished an Independence Day celebration, where we talked about and celebrated everything we have been and everything we have meant as a country. For the sake of future independence days, for the sake of future American generations, we must fight for the people’s rule. That’s what Donald Trump is here to do and that’s what he’s always done. Please help me welcome President Donald J. Trump.
Donald Trump: (03:25)
Thank you very much, Brooke, I appreciate that. Thank you everybody. I just want to say that I stand before you this morning to announce a very important and very beautiful, I think, development for our freedom and our freedom of speech, and that goes to all Americans. Today in conjunction with the America first policy Institute, I’m filing as the lead class representative, a major class action lawsuit against the big tech giants, including Facebook, Google and Twitter, as well as their CEOs, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Jack Dorsey, three real nice guys. We’re asking the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida to order an immediate halt to social media companies’ illegal, shameful censorship of the American people, and that’s exactly what they are doing. We’re demanding an end to the shadow banning, a stop to the silencing and a stop to the blacklisting, banishing and canceling that you know so well. Our case will prove this censorship is unlawful, it’s unconstitutional and it’s completely un-American.
Donald Trump: (04:57)
We all know that very, very well. Our filing also seeks injunctive relief to allow prompt restitution and really restoration and you can name about 20 other things and it has to be prompt because it’s destroying our country. Of my accounts, in addition, we are asking the court to impose punitive damages on these social media giants. We’re going to hold big tech very accountable. This is the first of numerous other lawsuits, I assume that would follow. But this is the lead and I think it’s going to be a very, very important game changer for our country. It will be a pivotal battle in the defense of the first amendment. And in the end, I am confident that we will achieve a historic victory for American freedom and at the same time freedom of speech. So I want to thank all of the exceptional legal team behind this effort.
Donald Trump: (06:09)
In particular [inaudible 00:06:10] we have a lot of the tobacco lawyers. I said, “Who are the best lawyers?” Well, the tobacco lawyers seem to do a very good job. So I figured let’s see if they want to do it, and they really wanted to do it. We have great, great talent. I also want to thank Brooke Rollins, just an outstanding person and friend. She’s carrying it out to a level that nobody saw and she’s done it very quickly together with Linda McMahon, a tremendously successful woman who did an incredible job in the administration, one of the best, and everyone at the America first policy Institute for their support of this vital initiative. From the very beginning of our nation, freedom of speech has always been understood as a bedrock of our liberty and our strength. In America, we recognize that the freedom to speak our minds and express the truth, that is our heart, that’s really a big chunk of our heart. It is our heart. It is not granted to us by government, it’s given to us by God and no one should have the power to take that right away. The founding fathers inscribed this right in the very first amendment to our constitution because they knew that free speech is essential to the prevention, and look, to the prevention of horror and to the preservation of our republic. But remember the words, the prevention of horror, because we’re very close to seeing that now in our country. We’ve never been in a position like this, and it’s all happened very quickly. In the words of the father of our country, although some would like to take that title away from him, George Washington, he will not be canceled. If freedom of speech may be taken away, then dumb and silent, we may be led like sheep to the slaughter, pretty well-known phrase and so true. Unfortunately today, this fundamental American right on liberty is under incredible threat and attack by a lot of different sides.
Donald Trump: (08:48)
But we are the majority side by a lot. I believe we are the majority side by far more than anybody would understand. You just have to take a look at what happened in recent elections and add up the right numbers. You will see a majority like you wouldn’t believe because nobody can believe what some of the things that are being said are. Nobody believes that. Social media has given extraordinary power to a group of big tech giants that are working with government, the mainstream media and a large segment of a political party to silence and suppress the views of the American people and they’ve been very, very successful at that. Not in all cases, but in many cases, totally successful. While the social media companies are officially private entities, in recent years they have ceased to be private with the enactment and their historical use of section 230, which profoundly protects them from liability.
Donald Trump: (09:54)
Once they got section 230, they’re not private companies anymore in a lot of views. No other companies in our country, and even in our country’s history, have had protection like this. It’s, in effect, a massive government subsidy. These companies have been co-opted, coerced and weaponized by government and by government actors to become the enforces of illegal, unconstitutional censorship. And that’s what it is at the highest level, censorship. And so many other things that perhaps are even worse. And you’ll be seeing that in this lawsuit, as it wells its way through the courts, we have all seen Democrats in Congress hall the CEOs of these companies before their committees and attempt to threaten them, bully them and intimidate them like nobody has been intimidated. But they made a deal. They all get along very nicely now, thank you very much. Congress has repeatedly told big tech that if they do not silence Democrats’ political opponents, ban prominent conservative voices, I wonder who that would be, and restrict what the left ominously labels as disinformation, and they are the greatest disinformation group of people ever, ever in the world. As an example, just recently, now they’re saying, “We never said defund the police. We want to fund the police.” They looked at poll numbers at 85% against them. “No, no, no. We want to take care of the police state.” No, they don’t. They want to fund the police. And they’ll say it thousands and thousands and thousands of times. And by the end of 12 months, you’ll all be saying, “Oh, they love the police.” They don’t love the police. They actually hate the police for whatever reason, and it’s just a terrible thing. And so many other-
Donald Trump: (12:03)
… for whatever reason, and it’s just a terrible thing. And so many other things. They’re changing their views on so many other things and they just say the opposite. They don’t even go to anything. They just all in unison, a lot of the people sitting right before me understand exactly what I’m saying. They say it right before you. That we want to do this. We want to do that. It’s the exact opposite of what they’ve been saying. Or, probably the most famous of all, Russia, Russia, Russia. Trump loves Russia. He loves Russia. He loves Putin. He loves Russia. That went on for two years and some people believed it, but we are going to look so closely and we’re going to make sure that the liability protections that they have under section 230 is at a very minimum changed. And maybe at a maximum taken away.
Donald Trump: (12:54)
The Supreme Court has made it exceedingly clear that Congress is not allowed to coerce private entities into doing what Congress does. They’re not allowed to do it. The lawful authority is just not there. They can’t do it. They bully and they coerce. Yet, that’s exactly what’s taking place every single day. It’s a flagrant violation of The Constitution going on before our very eyes. I hate to say this, but they do it with the Supreme Court, too. They play the refs. They play the refs. They talk about all sorts of things they’re going to do to Supreme Court justices. We’re going to impeach him. We’re going to impeach him. We’re going to impeach him. And then, lo and behold, all of a sudden different decisions come out. Or, we’re going to enlarge that court to a level that nobody can believe. We are going to take that court and we’re going to enlarge. We’re going to have 16. We’re going to have 20. I saw one the other day, we’re going to have 24 justices.
Donald Trump: (14:07)
I guess things happen because all of a sudden decisions come out. They play the ref. They play the ref better than Bobby Knight has ever played the ref. We can’t let that happen and hopefully our Supreme Court justices and other judges and justices, they stand up for our values and they don’t let that happen. In addition, in recent years, we have also seen increasing coordination between big tech, giants and government agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control. Where so much was wrong. So many things could have been different, but big tech happened to choose the wrong side and they banned the right side. For example, YouTube’s policy, explicitly forbids contradicting ” health authorities.”
Donald Trump: (15:03)
You know the health authorities. Fortunately, I overrode the health authorities quite a bit. That was a lot of good decisions made. If I didn’t, we would have been in much bigger trouble. Like you see other countries right now are still in very, very big trouble. Through such coordination, the federal government has essentially deputized social media platforms to become the defacto censorship arm of the US government, which is exactly what’s happened. This was especially clear during the pandemic when social media giants began censoring information, according to guidance by the CDC, which as we now know, was very often incorrect or wrong.
Donald Trump: (15:52)
This censorship is yet another blatant violation of the constitution. There are so many violations of our constitution and you’ll see that in the suit, which will also be added to, because other things are happening on a daily basis, that will be added as we go along. Consider just some of the information that has been censored in America over the past year. Until recently, Facebook had a policy to eliminate all posts sharing evidence that the horrible virus emerged from China. They said it didn’t emerge from the Chinese lab. Wuhan. Remember? I said, Wuhan and it was like a bomb went up.Wuhan. Came from the Wuhan lab. Of course there were body bags all outside the lab. Nobody ever mentions that. I wonder why?
Donald Trump: (16:45)
They said it came a thousand miles away from a bat or it came from another country. They tried to blame Italy. They tried to blame us. But they gave that one up. That was also misinformation. But then it was finally revealed that this was most likely the truth. That it came from the lab. And it was a small little story. But when I said it it was like a weapon went off. A major weapon. I won’t use the word weapon, because I never used the word nuclear, but we have to be careful with our leadership because if we don’t have the proper leadership, we’re in a very perilous state. So we don’t use the word nuclear. I never use it. Okay? Never use it. I never said it. That’s called disinformation.
Donald Trump: (17:32)
Google and YouTube have deleted countless videos that dared to question the judgment of the World Health Organization, which has been wrong so often. It’s been a really pipe organ for China, as most of you know. Calling those videos misinformation, including videos that consist of clear scientific fact. Doctors and medical groups have been barred from these platforms for posting about therapeutics, such as hydroxychloroquine. Huh. That’s a familiar name. Which now, most recent studies say, is effective in combating the virus. Three cents a pill. The drug companies don’t like three cents a pill. Three cents a pill is what it costs. But recent studies have come out very strongly in favor.
Donald Trump: (18:28)
Twitter has censored users simply for using the term illegal alien, which it has labeled as hateful content. And just taking you off for whatever reason. You have to see the sentence they took me off for. It’s the most loving sentence. It’s really amazing. They could have done better, because I’ve had a lot of worse. I couldn’t believe that was the reason. Take a look at it. You know exactly the sentence I’m talking of. It’s become very famous. People are saying, “Really?” Even the other side said, “Really?”
Donald Trump: (19:04)
And of course there is no better evidence that big tech is out of control than the fact that they banned the sitting president of the United States earlier this year. A ban that continues to this day. Continues. So we get the word out, but it’s not a fair situation. Very, very bad for this country. Very bad for the world. If they can do it to me, they can do it to anyone. And in fact that is exactly what they’re doing. They’re taking people off who don’t even realize they were taken off. They’d have no idea why they were taken off. But what they are doing is incredible and incredibly dangerous.
Donald Trump: (19:42)
Joining us this morning are just a few of the many Americans who have been illegally banned or silenced under the corrupt regime of censorship. These brave patriots are included in the lawsuit and thousands more are joining as we speak. Thousands more. They’re all wanting to join. This will be, I think will go down as the biggest class action ever filed, because thousands of people want to join. Jen Horton is a schoolteacher from Fenton, Michigan. Earlier this year, she was kicked off Facebook for sharing a post questioning whether young children should be required to wear masks. She had a question. Giving both sides and actually not negative, just giving both sides. That was enough. At the same time, as Jen was de-platformed, her brother had gone missing and she was unable to get the word out to all of her followers. She had a lot of followers. Could not get the word out. And Jen, I want to thank you very much for being here and stepping forward. It takes a lot of courage. Would you like to come up and say something? Jen? Where’s Jen?
Speaker 1: (21:04)
She’s right there.
Donald Trump: (21:06)
Jen. Please. Thank you. Thank you.
Jen Horton: (21:09)
I just appreciate the opportunity to be here with all of these amazing patriots and I thank you, President Trump, for everything you’re doing for us.
Donald Trump: (21:18)
Thank you Jen very much. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. Thank you, Jen.
Donald Trump: (21:26)
Dr. Kelly Victory. I love that name. I would have gone with that name if I had the choice. Is a board certified trauma and emergency specialist from Colorado. Great person who was asked by the pastor of a church to prepare a video about how to mitigate risks of the China virus to allow church services to safely resume. Just a question. Could you give us some information? The video was outrageously removed from Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube with horrible statements being made by them. Kelly, thank you for your bravery. Please say a few words. Thank you.
Speaker 2: (22:10)
She was delayed. Her flight was delayed.
Donald Trump: (22:15)
Oh. Facebook delayed the flight. The flight’s delayed by four hours. I wonder. I can’t believe that. That’s terrible. What they will do. All right. Thank you, anywhere. There he is landing. Going into Newark. Kelly [inaudible 00:22:40] and Bobby Michael, are angel parents. Their precious son Brandon was killed at just 21 years of age by a twice deported and very violent illegal alien. He caused a very fatal collision. Something should have never happened. Since then, they have heroically launched their own deeply personal fight to draw attention to the dangers of illegal immigration. They helped push through Florida’s ban on deadly sanctuary cities and they are indeed deadly. And they continue to be strong advocates for border security and immigration enforcement, but they have been cruelly and unfairly banned from Twitter. Would you like to say a few words? Where are you?
Speaker 2: (23:37)
Right here.
Donald Trump: (23:38)
Would you please?
Kelly: (23:40)
Thank you Mr. President. The fight for citizenship must continue. We are in this. We will not allow our nation to be silenced. We stand together and we thank you Mr. President.
Donald Trump: (23:56)
Great. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2: (23:58)
Well said.
Bobby: (23:58)
Thank you.
Donald Trump: (24:01)
Beautiful. I see somebody running for office very soon.
Donald Trump: (24:03)
I see somebody running for office very soon. That was great. I want to thank you very much. It’s really terrific.
Donald Trump: (24:10)
We’re in a fight. We’re in a fight that we’re going to win. We’re in a fight that people want us to take on. So many people have said to me, please sir, do something about big tech. Sue them sir, sue them and they’ve been saying it to me for a long time, but there has never been a better time to do it. Polling released by Scott Rasmussen, highly respected, shows that nearly two thirds of Americans believe big tech companies should be required to abide by the first amendment guarantee of free speech and I think those numbers are low, very low. 68% of Americans believe social media companies should prioritize their fair treatment of every citizen over protecting themselves. They want people protected. They want people to have their voice and an overwhelming majority believe that tech giants have become too powerful. They’ve crossed the line many, many times and by far too much.
Donald Trump: (25:11)
The American people’s birthright of freedom must prevail against big tech and other forces that seek to destroy it. Through this lawsuit, we are standing up for American democracy, by standing up for free speech rights of every American, Democrat, Republican, independent, whoever it may be. This lawsuit is just the beginning. It’s a very big suit with great lawyers. I’ll let you know about that in about a year from now. Maybe I’ll change my mind, but I don’t think so. They’ve had a tremendous track record in doing good. We’ll also take this battle to the state legislatures, to Congress and ultimately to the ballot box and it will be a very popular one at the ballot box. I will never stop fighting to defend constitutional rights and sacred liberties of the American people. I will never stop. I will now ask John Coale and Pam Bondi, two terrific people that love our country so much, to step forward and discuss the suit and then we’ll take a few questions. Thank you very much.
John Coale: (26:34)
Hello. He’s taller than me. This suit is really about freedom of speech. It’s basic that freedom of speech depends on certain things. One is, who decides what’s hate? Who decides what’s misinformation? It’s not a couple guys out in California. It’s always been the Supreme Court for over 200 years and I would say, they’ve done a heck of a job. We’re taking this suit. We’re going to prove that they are government actors, therefore the first amendment does apply and we think we will be victorious on that. We think that we’re in the right area, which is southern Florida and you have to understand that we can’t let this happen because for all you out there who are Democrats and liberals or whatever you are, you’re next. Now it’s the conservatives, but as history shows of, it will turn. Maybe five years from now, maybe three months from now, maybe 10 years, but you’re next.
John Coale: (27:49)
I would urge people from the other side of President Trump’s political party to join us because you can’t have this going on. One last thing, the most hated thing by all the Supreme courts over all the years is called prior restraint. That means that you can’t speak, Pentagon papers is the famous case. You can’t do this because we say so. The Supreme court hates this. They think it’s the worst kind of censorship we have and when this gentlemen can not go on and say what he wants to say, that’s prior restraint, every minute of every day until this thing gets resolved. Thank you.
Pam Bondi: (28:43)
I’m here, not as part of that great legal team over there, but I’m very proud to be part of America First Policy constitutional litigation team. I was here just to explain just a few things and you know what John said, this is about our constitution. This isn’t just for conservatives. This is for our media. This is for everyone out there about censorship. This is for Democrats and even progressive’s who speech should be protected under the first amendment. If you recall, Tulsi Gabbard she sued. Do you remember that? Tulsi Gabbard was censored when she was running for president and so she sued. People say that they have immunity, they meaning YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, under section 230. Well, here’s where that’s changed. Section 230 came about in 1996 and it was an offshoot of the Decency Act to protect really, to protect against children being exploited online. That’s what this was all about.
Pam Bondi: (29:45)
Take it back to ’96. How many users were there then? Probably about 20 million on AOL, right president? 1996. Now what do we have? Facebook, Twitter, we have billions world wide. Times have changed. The internet is flourishing, but first amendment still must be protected. No one could envision what was about to happen with the internet and our country now with billions, billions of users worldwide. That’s why this is so important. When you have Mark Zuckerberg and others being called in front of Congress and being coerced and being questioned by all these congressmen, then you also have Mark Zuckerberg emailing with Dr. Fauci about COVID and in fact, a lot of their emails that we received have been redacted, not just because of phone numbers, but because they were trading trade secrets. A private company is communicating with the federal government and parts of that were redacted. They’re not immune anymore. They are not immune anymore. It was coercion, collusion, working together and they cannot hide from the first amendment. That’s why this is so very, very important.
Pam Bondi: (31:09)
Even Facebook’s oversight board, that Mark Zuckerberg created, the oversight board came back and said there were problems. There were problems and it lacked consistently being applied to everyone by community standards. That’s why this is so important for us, for our future, for all political parties, for all human beings around the world. We believe in the first amendment and America First Policy will fight for it. Thank you.
Donald Trump: (31:40)
Thank you very much. A lot of people ask me about Dr. Fauci. I like Dr. Fauci. I actually get along with him great, but they said, why didn’t you fire him? I said, no, he was good. He’d recommend something, I’d do the opposite and we always turned out to be right. Sir, don’t close the borders to China. We closed them very early. Get no credit for anything, but these are minor details. Any questions? Christina, yes. I chose you. Go ahead please.
Christina: (32:10)
Thank you sir. What is the possibility of a settlement prior to trial? Obviously any court ruling in your favor and you’ve laid out a very compelling case. Anything prior to a court ruling would certainly limit the rest, everybody else who’s not in the class.
Donald Trump: (32:26)
We’re not looking for a settlement. We don’t expect a settlement. They fight and they fight hard. They’ve never had anything like this and they’ve never had a team of very attractive looking people in every way. Look at that. That’s a quite a legal team. That’s like from a picture, but they are very effective, much more importantly, legal team. We’re not looking to settle. We don’t know what’s going to happen, but we’re not looking to settle. Thank you, Christina.
Christina: (32:49)
Thank you sir.
Donald Trump: (32:50)
Yeah, please go ahead.
Speaker 3: (32:54)
We’re talking privately held companies that have been censoring. What’s your position on public broadcasting, NPR, who also seem to be filling the same kind of role for-
Donald Trump: (33:04)
It’s such a great question. They are terrible. They are terrible. It’s not only what they say, it’s what they don’t say. For instance, I was informed that there are record numbers of murders took place this weekend. Record numbers. They don’t even talk about it on NBC and CBS and ABC and NPR. They don’t talk about it and it’s a big story. That’s why the credibility of the mainstream media is the lowest it’s ever been. Lowest it’s ever been. I hate to take credit for this, but I’m very proud of the fact that I exposed them for what they are. They are terrible, terrible representatives of our country. They don’t talk about crime. They don’t talk about Chicago where you had 260 people shot this weekend. In Afghanistan we didn’t lose one soldier in the last more than a year. I will say that was largely because of me, but I won’t take credit, but the good news is I will never be given credit either, but we haven’t lost a soldier. Think of it. 260 people shot in Chicago, massive numbers of people shot in New York and they don’t prosecute these people. These are killers. They don’t prosecute these people. They only go after Republicans. It’s a terrible thing that’s happening in our country and a very dangerous thing and a very good question. Please, please.
Speaker 4: (34:36)
How you doing? How do you fight the argument that these are private companies? They can be as liberal as they want to be.
Donald Trump: (34:41)
Well, they say that they’re private, but they’re no longer private. If they gave up their section 230 liability protection, I would go along with them. I’d say that private. We’ll open up other privates and other privates will be opened up. I mean, I know that for a fact because I’m involved in that, but I will say that they have section 230. It’s a liability protection, the likes of which nobody in the history of our country has ever received, just as small group and we’re not going to stand for it and that makes them, in my opinion, very subject to the kind of penalties that we’re talking about, which is potentially, John, trillions of dollars. It’s a number that the likes of which nobody’s seen before. John, you might want to address that.
John Coale: (35:25)
The Supreme Court over the years, especially recently, has been very clear what you can and can’t do as a private company. They’ve done it all. There’s mainly three reasons. The president has talked about the immunity. There’s also the coercion by Congress, Congressman, Congresswomen, in the media and in testimony and in their tweets. There’s also the fact that when this law was passed, Zuckerberg was in middle school. It has served its purpose.
John Coale: (36:03)
It’s a middle school, okay? It has served its purpose. Now it has grown into this monster that Congress never intended. And the real bottom line is Congress cannot delegate what it can’t do itself. And that’s what they’ve done.
Pam Bondi: (36:23)
We were talking earlier about when 230 was created in 1996 and really I believe one of the main reasons was something we all care deeply about. But as a former attorney general getting the sex predators off instantly. Yet today there are still… This may have come out during the congressional testimony, but there are still there were over 16 million reports still of sex predators, of sex exploitation of children online. 45 million photos and videos that are allegedly still out there. That’s what they need to be focusing on.
Speaker 5: (37:09)
Thank you, Mr. President. I think the timing of this is perfect, especially going to the midterms and looking ahead to 2024. Can you share your thoughts on the timing of it and how this decision can help protect conservative viewpoints as we move further to 2024 elections?
Donald Trump: (37:25)
The timing just seemed to be right, because they’ve been so abusive, so bad what they’ve done. Not only to the president of the United States, but to so many others. Hamas has a site. The greatest killers in the world have a site. They are never reprimanded, they are never red-flagged. Nothing ever happens. And again, get the quote you won’t believe it, but these people call for the destruction of Israel, the destruction of the USA, nothing happens to them. And I just think its become so flagrant and so outrageous and outrageously ridiculous that this was a good time. Not having to do with the elections, I think this will go on beyond the elections. I would be surprised if it didn’t. But I think it’s a very important thing for our nation. Very, very important. Yeah please go ahead, please.
Speaker 6: (38:17)
Just to clarify, who should be the arbiter of what’s hate, what’s offensive, what should not be published? What goes beyond free speech? And because so much of this your banning has to do with comments you made around January 6th, just to clarify further, what did you do to stop the insurrection as some people call it and why were you not able to stop it?
Donald Trump: (38:41)
So that whole event, unfortunate event just went through Congress and a report was issued and my name wasn’t even mentioned. And I appreciate that. I was surprised frankly because I would have assumed that they would have come up with their typically biased, at least on the Democrat side statement. The report came out as you saw it two weeks ago. My name wasn’t even mentioned, that was an unfortunate event. I say though however, people are being treated unbelievably unfairly. When you look at people in prison and nothing happens to Antifa and they burned down cities and killed people. There were no guns in the Capitol except for the gun that shot Ashli Babbitt. And nobody knows who that men were.
Donald Trump: (39:26)
If that were the opposite way that man would be all over, he would be the most well-known and I believe I can say man, because I believe I know exactly who it is. But he would be the most well known person in this country, in the world. But the person that shot Ashli Babbitt right through the head, just boom. There was no reason for that. And why isn’t that person being opened up and why isn’t that being studied? They’ve already written it off. They said that case is closed. If that were the opposite, that case would be going on for years and years and it would not be pretty. So I just thought this was a very important time. Yeah please go ahead. Go ahead please.
Speaker 7: (40:12)
If you’re successful with this and Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and all of the social media platforms let you back on and let everyone else back on uninhibited the way that everyone’s supposed to have access, would you use their platforms again?
Donald Trump: (40:25)
I don’t know. That’s a good question. I don’t know I might not. I’m in a different position because if I put out a press release, I’m getting extremely good pickup, but that’s me. The world, everybody that’s getting banned they can’t put out a press release. People would say who the hell is that? Nobody’s going to pick it up. And even myself I could instantaneously get the word out. If somebody says a lie, like the fake media, I can at least give the opposing side which I’ve been doing for six years. I used to get great publicity before I ran for office. I’ve been doing this for five or six years where I can get a word out an opposing word, today you can’t do that. They took away the rights of in my opinion the majority, I really believe it’s the majority because people aren’t for all of these things.
Donald Trump: (41:14)
Now they have voter ID. That’s another one when you talk about voter ID all of a sudden they love voter ID. They fought it vehemently. I noticed two days ago, I watched a congressmen happened to be from South Carolina saying “No, I’ve always been in favor of voter ID.” Well, he hasn’t because you look at his statement for the last two years he’s been vehemently opposed, but now they lie like nobody has ever lied. I watched him say, “I’ve always believed in voter ID essentially.” And I said that’s unbelievable. Fortunately the particular newscast had his statements from before of which they were too numerous to put up, but they put up enough of them. But the Democrats are now saying because they saw it was an 88% positive issue. They’re now saying we believe in voter ID, we have to have voter ID. There isn’t one Democrat in the country that said that.
Donald Trump: (42:07)
And in a year from now the fake news will say they’ve always been on this side, it’s amazing. If you say it long enough, hard enough, often enough people will start to believe it. That’s what happened with Russia, that’s what happened with Ukraine. That’s what happened with… Well, the worst is when they don’t say it like the laptop from hell. They didn’t want it. You look at that thing there is more criminal activity on that laptop than Al Capone had if he ever had a laptop. We’d like to give Al Capone one, but he was a baby compared to what I was able to see. Brooke would you like to say a few more words?
Speaker 8: (42:47)
What’s going to happen if somebody joined the lawsuit?
Donald Trump: (42:48)
That’s a good question, Brooke.
Brooke Rollins: (42:50)
You can join the law suit by going to takeonbigtech.com. I did not plant that question, but I very much appreciate it. Takeonbigtech.com and we really are looking for the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of Americans. And let me just say one quick thing. It was a great question about the political ramifications of this lawsuit versus two years or four years. And certainly it will be part of the national narrative I think moving forward for the next couple of years. But this effort really is about the battle for the future of this country. And when we lose the opportunity to be part of a public discourse, whether as conservatives, as Republicans, as libertarians, as fighting against critical race theory, as questioning masks and whether our 11, 13, 15 and 16 year olds, my children should be forced to wear a mask all day.
Brooke Rollins: (43:40)
Whether we’re questioning illegal immigration and how to use that, that’s crazy and it’s not okay and this is not America. And it is not the America that I know we all want for our children and our future grandchildren. And that’s what this lawsuit is about. We have the best legal team in the country. The America First Policy Institute is partnering with them to ensure that the word gets out, that we can truly truly give our Americans who have been censored, who have been compromised, who have been told that they don’t have a voice that will no longer be the case. So thank you. Thank you all
John Coale: (44:15)
I want to make one thing, the gentleman asked who would decide what’s hate speech, who would decide this thing. For 200 years, over 200 years it’s been the Supreme court. We can’t let it be in the hands of unelected people or unappointed justices. But they have done such a good job for 200 years on this issue. We don’t need any panels. We don’t need any oversight committees. We need the Supreme court and the judicial system to come into the 21st century.
Donald Trump: (44:52)
So I want to thank everybody. It’s about 94 degrees out. I’m sorry to do this. It was supposed to be a beautiful day, 72 and perfect and it’s a little bit hot. We’re going to have refreshments, drinks we’ll bring you into the club house if you’d like. But we’ll take care of you because I see some of you are in serious trouble sitting there. I do hope I could leave you with two things. Number one, this is a very important lawsuit. This is a big time long awaited, very, very long awaited. The complexity of it I guess took a longer period of time, but other litigants also want to join in with us and we have great confidence in the courts and we’re going to see what happens. And the other thing I just asked the mainstream media to go back and do on network news and everywhere else please discuss the horrors of what’s going on in… Out in Chicago. It’s a number. It’s a stat put out by the city over the weekend. There’s no war that we lost that many and for a long time and many people died, young people. And New York is a horror show. New York has the worst crime wave that they’ve had ever and nothing’s done about it, except no bail. They let everybody out of prison.
Donald Trump: (46:23)
They just left almost 500 people out. They let them all out. They caused tremendous damage and harm and physical harm to other people and death. And they let them out. If the people don’t hear this you’ll never be able to solve the problem. It’s a problem like this country has never had. What’s happened over the last six months in particular and what’s happening in certain cities is a horrible thing. It’s an embarrassment to our country, but more importantly it’s just a horrible thing. The loss of human life on a weekly basis and you turn on these major newscasts that a lot of people are watching and it’s not even mentioned. You have to change. You got to get you credibility back. You don’t have the credibility, you have to get it back. I want to thank everybody very much and we’ll be seeing what happens. John good luck, Pam good luck, everybody. Trish I want to thank you for being so great. You’re really fantastic. I appreciate it very much. You’ve been so incredible. Thank you. And thank you-
