Another High-Profile Republican Hit With Twitter Flag

Twitter slapped a warning label on a tweet from another high-profile Republican on Monday. This time it was Rep. Matt Gaetz, a congressman from Florida whom Politico refers to as "one of President Donald Trump’s fiercest allies." After Trump said the US would declare antifa a terrorist organization, Gaetz tweeted, "Now that we clearly see Antifa as terrorists, can we hunt them down like we do those in the Middle East?" Twitter hid the tweet behind a flag noting, "This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible." That's the same warning the social media company applied to Trump's tweet about "when the looting starts, the shooting starts" in reference to George Floyd protests.

The warning didn't stop Gaetz from continuing to tweet about hunting antifa activists down all day; at one point he tweeted, "Their warning is my badge of honor. Antifa is a terrorist organization, encouraging riots that hurt Americans. Our government should hunt them down. Twitter should stop enabling them. I’ll keep saying it." Later, Gaetz tweeted an article about Twitter slapping another high-profile conservative with account limitations after an antifa tweet similarly deemed to have been "glorifying violence." Critics on the other side say such tweets could spark mass shootings of protesters. The Verge notes Gaetz's tweet had been retweeted more than 12,000 times before it was hit with the warning. (More Matt Gaetz stories.)