Donald Trump hosted a “social media summit” at the White House yesterday and the event was … well, it was something. Rather than host a single person from Twitter, Facebook, or anyone actually involved in the business of social media, Trump filled the invite list with far-right personalities, bloggers, and conspiracy theorists.
Vocal QAnon proponent Bill Mitchell was there. So was Project Veritas’ James O’Keefe, who recently tried to trick the Washington Post into running false sexual abuse accusations against Senate candidate Roy Moore (presumably as a way to discredit not just the paper but the other, seemingly legitimate accusations against Moore). Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk was there, although after the Washington Post decided to legitimize his ramblings with an op-ed byline this week, I’m surprised he was allowed into this anti-mainstream media event.
Other attendees include Ali Alexander, who spurred the Kamala Harris birtherism conspiracy on Twitter during the Democratic debates, Benny Johnson, who was fired from BuzzFeed for massive plagiarism and now works for Kirk’s Turning Point USA, and, according to Slate, the people behind sycophantically pro-Trump Twitter accounts like @mad_liberals and @CarpeDonktum.
There was some drama leading up to yesterday’s event as not every D-list far-right troll was invited. And one (cartoonist Bill Garrison) was disinvited for being too bigoted, even for Trump. Conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer wasn’t invited and she was pissed about being snubbed. But it made sense that she wasn’t there, because for an event designed to rage against a perceived liberal bias in silencing conservative voices, there didn’t seem to be anyone invited who had actually been banned from a platform, as Loomer has.
Have any of the people who got invited to the social media summit actually been censored by social media? 🤔
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) July 10, 2019
As for what happened at the summit, a lot of weird stuff! Some highlights:
Kellyanne Conway interviewed Diamond and Silk, who Trump then hugged and called “beautiful women, African American women.”
While Twitter was down, Diamond and Silk took to the stage to give everyone advice on how to build a following without being targeted and censored. pic.twitter.com/Xba77Izxvm
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) July 11, 2019
Inject this directly into my veins pic.twitter.com/xCcScN6bfP
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) July 11, 2019
Trump praised the conspiracy theorists in the audience, saying in a tone that seems to indicate it’s meant as praise, “the crap you think of is unbelievable.”
President Trump at social media summit: “Some of you are extraordinary, can’t say everybody…the crap you think of is unbelievable.” https://t.co/97JW3J1SEu pic.twitter.com/HRhnwlFdc4
— Dan Linden (@DanLinden) July 11, 2019
There were some actual journalists there, covering the event from the sidelines. At one point former Trump aide Sebastian Gorka called a one a “punk” and stormed away while Joy Villa, that woman that shows up to events wearing Trump and QAnon-inspired gowns, heckled the crowd.
POTUS leaves without taking questions. “Talk to us! The real news!” Then this mess unfolded with Sebastian Gorka yelling at a journalist. Supporter say Gorka could “kick your punk ass.” This is happening in the Rose Garden. pic.twitter.com/FmE4KYT9eO
— Katie Rogers (@katierogers) July 11, 2019
Trump talked about being shadowbanned, a thing he definitely isn’t, but helps him explain why his tweets don’t always go as viral as he would hope.
Trump is using the Social Media Summit primarily to complain about his own Twitter metrics — he suggests Twitter is secretly preventing his tweets from going more viral.
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) July 11, 2019
After comments on his hair and the scourge of houseflies, Trump is back on topic: “Shadow ban. 100 percent. The blocking, just the basic blocking of what we want to get out.” –
“I have millions of people … but I know that we’ve been blocked.”
— Katie Rogers (@katierogers) July 11, 2019
(Actually, Twitter went down right as the event was starting, and while I’m sure this was just a coincidence, how incredible would it be if that had been meant to troll this crowd?)
This really gets me: Trump had his tweets printed out and blown up to use as props.
Trump has his tweets printed out at the White House Social Media Summit. pic.twitter.com/xx5wio65Lc
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) July 11, 2019
But the other props are even worse. So much worse.
The Social Media Summit has props! (Via @timcast) pic.twitter.com/g6urtVYxKr
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) July 11, 2019
So there were a bunch of giant cards with dictionary-style definitions of conservative social media buzzwords on them. And while I don’t want to be a spelling/grammar/phonetics snob, this is a White House event. You would think someone could have proofread them to make sure there wasn’t a mistake on every. single. one.
In one of their printed out definitions, they spelled “Publicly” wrong 😬 pic.twitter.com/Ow4MTsex6X
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) July 11, 2019
The WH lists demonetization as a verb in their definition print out.
It’s a noun. pic.twitter.com/ETxgaFw9yO
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) July 11, 2019
Saying “shadow banning” out loud the way they’ve decided to write it phonetically on these placards is VERY fun. I recommend it.
Shad-OH bann-ING.https://t.co/GDtnFlS0Nk
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) July 11, 2019
Trump’s social media summit is my actual hell.
(image: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!
—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—
