Nate Silver Takes Trump’s Side Over Kamala Harris, It Goes Poorly for Him
Uber-pollster Nate Silver took Donald Trump’s side over Senator Kamala Harris by directly refuting her suggestion that Trump be suspended from Twitter, and congratulating Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey for giving Trump a platform. Big mistake.
For the past several days, Senator Harris has been calling for Trump to be suspended from Twitter for things like fomenting civil war and threatening people like Rep. Adam Schiff and the Ukraine whistleblower. On Tuesday night, Harris took her case straight to Dorsey, tweeting “Hey, @jack. Time to do something about this” in response to another Trump tweet.
Hey, @jack. Time to do something about this. https://t.co/es2fJ5PNRV
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 2, 2019
That’s when Silver decided to weigh in, quote-tweeting Senator Harris and mimicking her construction.
“Hey, @jack. As a journalist I think Trump’s tweets are extremely newsworthy and I’m happy that you’ve given the President of the United States a platform to communicate in a direct and unfiltered way with the public,” he wrote.
Hey, @jack. As a journalist I think Trump’s tweets are extremely newsworthy and I’m happy that you’ve given the President of the United States a platform to communicate in a direct and unfiltered way with the public. https://t.co/ezoSzX5nGk
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) October 2, 2019
Maybe Silver missed the substance of Harris’ complaint, but many prominent Twitter users did not.
“Let the president do threats” is definitely a hill to fight on. Good luck with that.
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 2, 2019
Hey Nate. As some who gets death threats due to the violence he incites on @twitter I think you’re an awful journalist https://t.co/MiByF5XaJd
— Maysoon (@maysoonzayid) October 2, 2019
“Media person who’s entire racket is getting paid via clicks so this presidential shitshow is good for business even if it harms people who don’t look or live like me” isn’t spelled “journalist” Nate. https://t.co/5gc7t6kwnX
— Kno (@Kno) October 2, 2019
Some returned the favor by mocking Silver’s “As a journalist” construction.
Hey @jack. As a journalist, I think that Dr. Doom’s live satellite feed holding the world hostage with a Death Ray is extremely newsworthy and I’m glad that you’ve given the Legion of Evil a platform to communicate in a direct and unfiltered way with the public. https://t.co/CI1woPJG1j
— Noah Hurowitz (@NoahHurowitz) October 2, 2019
As a journalist, i think we fail to hold people in power accountable when we suggest that they should be immune from a platform’s TOS solely because they’re powerful. https://t.co/jN2vgmLyg6
— Elizabeth Spiers (@espiers) October 2, 2019
Hey Franz Eher Nachfolger. As a journalist I think Hitler’s thoughts on the Jewish peril are newsworthy and I’m glad you‘ve given der Führer a platform to communicate in a direct and unfiltered way with die Volk. https://t.co/Y4YMN4hHvU
— Michael Eisen (@mbeisen) October 2, 2019
“As a journalist and not a Yemeni widow”
— Wilson Dizard (@willdizard) October 2, 2019
As a journalist I choose not to give racist, xenofobic propaganda a platform. https://t.co/1XGObu9O0j
— camille alexandra (@CamiHabla) October 2, 2019
Parkland activist David Hogg framed Silver’s take in the starkest of terms.
How many instances of white-supremacist terrorism will it take before you realize how he’s using this platform? How many people are going to die when he uses it to start a war – civil or foreign?
— Dave Hogg (@stareagle) October 2, 2019
Silver did have at least one fan, but it was noted Twitter liar and inciter Caleb Hull, who implored Silver to “DRAG HER,” a common Twitter phrase, but probably racist in this context.
Even Cheech and Chong wouldn’t want this much smoke, but Silver is apparently undeterred. Instead of responding to the voluminous criticism, he slammed Senator Harris over the personal letter she sent to Dorsey detailing Trump’s egregious violations of Twitter’s terms of service because… the personal letter wasn’t on Senate letterhead.
Note that it’s on campaign letterhead; she couldn’t commit to the bit enough to put it on U.S. Senate letterhead.
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) October 2, 2019
Watch Kamala Harris’ call for Trump to be suspended above, via CNN.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
