CNN’s Abby Phillip Bursts Out Laughing as MAGA Panelist Claims Dems ‘Colluded With Big Tech’ to Ban Trump

CNN host Abby Phillip burst out laughing over a claim from a pro-Trump panelist Thursday night that Democrats secretly “colluded” with social media companies to ban President Donald Trump from major platforms while he was still president in 2021.

The brief skirmish unfolded on CNN NewsNight as panelists discussed the president’s growing wealth and criticism of the president’s plan to sell advance access to his Truth Social posts, which some say could allow insider trading.

Carla Sands, chair of the Foreign Policy Initiative at the America First Policy Institute, pivoted that Trump’s creation of Truth Social was a direct consequence of what she described as coordinated efforts by political opponents to remove him from mainstream platforms.

“And I will say this. He wouldn’t even have Truth Social if the Democrats hadn’t colluded with Big Tech and canceled him on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, every single platform he was taken down and banned while he was the sitting U.S. President,” Sands asserted.

Phillip immediately interrupted to question the timeline and premise of the allegation: “Wait. Hold on. Wait. Democrats colluded with social media companies when Trump was president to force them to-? ”

“That’s correct,” Sands replied.

Phillip retorted: “So, remember, he was in charge of the government at the time. Just a reminder.”

“Oh, yeah. But there was a whole hidden, there was all kinds of collusion going on behind his back,” Sands pushed back. “With the intelligence community, with the FBI –”

Phillip responded with a laugh before adding: “OK, so Democrats have all kinds of extraordinary powers.”

Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter in January 2021, two days after the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The company said at the time the decision was based on the “risk of further incitement of violence” following a review of Trump’s posts and their reception among his supporters.

The ban followed intense internal deliberations at Twitter, where executives weighed the platform’s longstanding commitment to open political speech against growing concerns that the president’s posts could fuel additional violence after the Capitol riot.

Then-chief executive Jack Dorsey later described the decision as necessary for public safety while also expressing concern about the broader implications of technology companies wielding such power over public discourse.

Trump was also suspended from Facebook and Instagram following the Capitol attack before later regaining access to those platforms. He launched Truth Social in 2022 after he was removed from several major social media sites.

Watch above via CNN.

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