When both Facebook and Twitter banned failed, one-term former President Donald Trump from their platforms we all got a well-needed respite from his hateful postings and noxious attacks on anyone who dared to disagree with him.
Now, however, Trump’s attorneys are trying to get him reinstated on social media, arguing that social media terms of service don’t apply to him because he’s a “government entity.”
Brad Heath, legal correspondent for Reuters, notes the latest filing from Trump’s lawyers is that the rules which apply to anyone who opens a social media account “do not apply to governmental entities, including Plaintiff, as the Forty Fifth President of the United States.”
That’s almost the exact same argument Trump’s legal team made last September:
“It’s basically a copy/paste of his argument that he’s not bound by Twitter’s terms of service, so much so that the lawyers didn’t update the filing to address cases in that district that uphold the enforceability of Facebooks’ forum-selection agreement.”
As legal experts have noted in the past when Trump has attempted to be reinstated on Facebook and Twitter, a person cannot be a government entity, especially once that person has left office and no longer holds an elected position in government.
Heath added:
“Trump’s lawyers are arguing that ‘President Trump’s social media accounts were government accounts, and not private ones,’ which would seem to raise loads of questions about how he, a private citizen, would have standing to sue over their suspension.”
In other words, Trump is suggesting he’s beyond the rules that apply to everyone else. He believes he should be allowed to do something no one else can do. He’s above the law, to hear him tell it.
Only, he isn’t. And he never will be. As he’s finding out with the many criminal investigations being conducted into his potentially illegal acts, there are consequences for actions. Even for him.
