Trump’s bizarre TV interview scrubbed from Facebook, Instagram
Social media giants have scrubbed their platforms of a new TV interview with Donald Trump by his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, in which he rehashed debunked election conspiracies and said the US has a "third-world country voting system".
The former US president is still banned from Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for promoting election falsehoods and Facebook has moved quickly to remove the new interview from the accounts of Trump's relatives and surrogates.
Lara, who is married to the former president’s son, Eric, and recently joined Fox News as a contributor, promoted on Instagram the sit-down interview she did with Trump for her own online show called The Right View.
Shortly after she was informed all content that included the former president's voice would be removed and sanctions imposed on the Trump-affiliated accounts that posted it.
In an irate post on Instagram, Eric shared an email from a Facebook employee informing them of the potential breach.
“In line with the block we placed on Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, further content posted in the voice of Donald Trump will be removed... resulting in additional limitations on the accounts,” the email read.
"This is so horrible – what is our country becoming?!" he wrote.
‘Coming from everywhere’: Trump’s wild claim on US ‘destruction’
‘I’m still in charge’: Trump reportedly ‘obsessed with payback
In another email shared by Lara on her Facebook page, the tech giant detailed how the ban applied to all campaign accounts, messaging vehicles and former Trump surrogates on the site.
"...and just like that, we are one step closer to Orwell’s 1984. Wow," she wrote on the very platform she was decrying.
The Facebook spokesperson, who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the email was real, but declined to comment.
Since the ban, the former president has been shown speaking on Facebook’s platforms in news coverage from outlets such as Fox News and Newsmax.
Despite reports Facebook gave preferential treatment to Donald Trump and right-wing pages, the ex-president has tried to cast the social media giants as biased against conservatives and promised to launch his own social media platform.
Trump blames media, big tech for election loss
In the somewhat bizarre Trump-on-Trump TV interview, the former president said Joe Biden's agenda was "more radical" than ever before, and said he was "destroying energy" and "destroying the second amendment", but did not mention any specifics.
Trump also railed against the media coverage of his presidency, declaring "we don't have freedom of the press anymore" while Lara – who is tipped to make her own political run for the US Senate – complained about social media companies "fact checking everything".
Biden overnight unveiled a US$2 trillion (A$2.6 trillion) plan to improve the nation’s infrastructure, which has said will create green jobs and help combat climate change.
Despite widespread support for reform, Biden has not signalled any major changes to gun control laws in the US but has a stated policy to end gun violence by closing loopholes around gun sales, and strengthening background checks.
Trump was suspended from Facebook and Instagram indefinitely over incitement of violence following the January 6 riot by his supporters at the US Capitol building in Washington DC.
Facebook has sent the case of Trump’s suspension to its independent oversight board.
Twitter has said Donald Trump's ban is permanent while YouTube said it will reinstate his account when the risk of violence from his supporters decreases.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.
