Trump Vows Veto of of Veto-Proof Military Spending Bill Over Tech ‘Censorship’ of Conservatives

Al Drago, Getty

On Thursday, amid a flurry of tweets and retweets, President Donald Trump stated his intent to veto the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), saying that doing so will “make China very unhappy.”

Trump has repeatedly railed against the bill, insisting in particular that his desired reform of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act be made part of it, on the grounds that it creates “a serious threat to our National Security.” Not to mention the renaming of military installations named for Confederate military leaders.

On Thursday he reiterated his objections, and changed his threats to a vow to veto the veto-proof bill, in a tweet that included a retweet of a Daily Caller article about Sen. Lindsey Graham.

I will Veto the Defense Bill, which will make China very unhappy. They love it. Must have Section 230 termination, protect our National Monuments and allow for removal of military from far away, and very unappreciative, lands. Thank you! https://t.co/9rI08S5ofO

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 17, 2020

Graham was featured for remarks in an interview with Sean Hannity on Wednesday during which the Senator said that “there’s two threats to conservatism: mass mail-in voting unverified and social media companies unregulated, unable to be sued when they take down the content of conservatives.”

The NDAA is a funding authorization bill. The $740 billion bill was passed by Congress last week, with veto-proof margins in both the House and the Senate. The bill was delayed by opponents, particularly Sen. Rand Paul, in an effort to push it back far enough that Congress could run out of time to override the veto before the end of the legislative session.

Congressional leaders have said they will cut their holiday short to deal with the veto should that become necessary. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), outgoing senior Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, told reporters last week, “We would be rightly and fairly criticized when we can’t come back to deal with military pay.”

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