Trump Compares YouTube Removing ‘NELK Boys’ Interview to Putin’s Media Crackdown
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Donald Trump railed against “the Big Tech lunatics” on Friday, comparing the U.S. tech sector to Russian-state censorship after YouTube removed a recent podcast with the former president.
YouTube removed Trump’s interview with the popular pranksters the NELK Boys, in which the former president pushed debunked allegations of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Trump wrote in a statement Friday, Incredibly, but not surprisingly, the Big Tech lunatics have taken down my interview with the very popular NELK Boys so that nobody can watch it or in any way listen to it.”
The former president added, “In Russia, the people are not allowed to know that they’re fighting a war with Ukraine, that’s where our media is going, and that’s where our Country is going because it quickly follows—just study history.” Trump’s slammed the U.S. media in his statement as the “Fake News Media,” the same term Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has used to criminalize any news the Kremlin views as disparaging its war effort with a punishment of up to 15 years in jail.
YouTube has removed the Trump episode… pic.twitter.com/2FftbXY7g9
— Full Send Podcast (@fullsendpodcast) March 11, 2022
The NELK Boys’ Full Send Podcast’s Twitter account shared a screenshot of YouTube informing them the interview had been taken down.
“Our team has reviewed your content, and, unfortunately, we think it violates our misinformation policy,” the screenshot read.
YouTube offered a further explanation in a statement to Newsweek, saying:
We removed this video for violating our election integrity policy, which prohibits content containing false claims that widespread fraud changed the outcome of the 2020 U.S. presidential election. We allow content with sufficient educational, documentary, scientific or artistic context, which the video we removed did not provide.
Read Trump’s full statement below:
Whatever happened to free speech in our Country? Incredibly, but not surprisingly, the Big Tech lunatics have taken down my interview with the very popular NELK Boys so that nobody can watch it or in any way listen to it. In the 24 hours that it was up it set every record for them, by many times. Interestingly on the show I told them this would happen because Big Tech and the Fake News Media fear the truth, they fear criticism about Biden, and above all, they don’t want to talk about the Rigged 2020 Presidential Election, all topics discussed. In Russia, the people are not allowed to know that they’re fighting a war with Ukraine, that’s where our media is going, and that’s where our Country is going because it quickly follows—just study history. Are we going to allow this to happen? Our Country is going to hell! Look at your gas prices, Inflation, the Afghanistan debacle, our Border, the war with Ukraine, which should have never happened, and so much more. We need freedom of speech again, we don’t have it and it’s getting worse every day!
