Rush Limbaugh Leaves Twitter After Platform Bans President Trump

Radio personality Rush Limbaugh attended the State of the Union address in the chamber of the House of Representatives in Washington on Feb. 4, 2020. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Popular radio host Rush Limbaugh deactivated his Twitter account on Friday after the technology giant permanently banned President Donald Trump.

A Twitter spokesperson told news outlets that Limbaugh deactivated his account, after initially stating that it permanently suspended the account.

The radio host’s Facebook account is still active. Facebook banned Trump through at least Jan. 20.

Limbaugh didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Others left Twitter on Friday after the ban of Trump, including radio host Mark Levin. Some called for people to join them on Parler, a Twitter competitor. Twitter also banned a slew of Trump supporters, including lawyer Sidney Powell and Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser.

Parler was subsequently removed from Google’s online store and threatened by Apple.

Twitter justified its ban of Trump by claiming some of his recent posts incited violence. In one post, Trump said he wouldn’t attend President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. In another, he praised his supporters, saying they will have a “GIANT VOICE long into the future.”

President Donald Trump's Twitter account was suspended by the technology giant on Jan. 8, 2021. Screenshot taken Jan. 9, 2021. Screenshot/Twitter

Twitter later suspended an account run by Trump’s team. Mike Hahn, director of social media for the team, said they posted a statement from Trump just before the suspension.

A number of Democrat legislators praised Twitter’s ban. “While long overdue, I commend twitter for moving to ban Donald Trump from the platform permanently. Tech companies must take responsibility for hate speech and misinformation flourishing on their watch. This is an important step toward accountability,” Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) wrote in a tweet.

But some lawmakers said they disagreed with the move.

“Twitter may ban me for this but I willingly accept that fate: Your decision to permanently ban President Trump is a serious mistake. The Ayatollah can tweet, but Trump can’t. Says a lot about the people who run Twitter,” Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) wrote.

“Twitter’s permanent suspension of President Trump is beyond disturbing. Instead of fostering open debate, this move will deepen the divide in this country,” added Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.). “Unacceptable does not even begin to describe this move.”

Correction: A previous version of this article inaccurately stated the number of followers Limbaugh had. The Epoch Times regrets the error.