Former presidential advisor Steve Bannon's show has been banned by Twitter and one of the episodes has been removed after he called for the beheading of FBI director Christopher Wray and the country's leading pandemic expert Dr Anthony Fauci. Bannon called for decapitating Fauci and Wray during a podcast in a YouTube video.
Twitter suspended Bannon's accounts on grounds of promoting violence and disturbing the peace of the country. Bannon, who was a former aide and strategist of President Donald Trump, hosts a podcast named 'Bannon's War Room' that is quite a hit with social media users.
Provocative Comments
Bannon's comments came during a chat with the show's co-host Jack Maxey on what Trump should do in a hypothetical second term. As he spoke he said that if Trump manages to defeat Democrat nominee Joe Biden, Fauci and Wray should be "beheaded" to set an example for other federal bureaucrats.
The conversation initially seems casual but later seemed to be more earnest than it first appeared. "I'd actually like to go back to the old times of Tudor England, I'd put the heads on pikes, right? I'd put them at the two corners of the White House as a warning to federal bureaucrats. You either get with the program, or you're gone," Bannon said.
The approach didn't go down quite well with Twitter and YouTube and following which the accounts were suspended. Twitter said the platforms prohibit inciting others to commit violent acts against individuals. Twitter also clarified that it has "permanently suspended" the account for violating the rule against glorifying violence.
Bannon's Attempt to Mellow Down
Bannon's account remains suspended, in his case permanently, which means it won't be easy for him to get back on the social media platform. Permanent suspension of account means it can be appealed but won't get restored automatically, as it happens in normal cases.
That said, Bannon later during the podcast tried to mellow down a bit by partially retracting his punishment idea saying that Trump would not go ahead with this suggestion as he is "kind hearted" and a "good man". However, that couldn't save Bannon from drawing criticism on social media.
He was immediately slammed on Twitter. Many although feel that Bannon used the word "beheading" as a metaphor but things sounded serious after Maxey dragged the issue too far by citing the example of anniversary of "hanging of two Tories in Philadelphia" during the American Revolution.
Steve Bannon's War Room co-host Raheem Kassam took to Twitter to share screenshot of the suspended accounts with the caption "Looks permanent. Time to bring @WarRoom2020 back!"
YouTube also made similar remarks after removing the episode from its platform. "We've removed this video for violating our policy against inciting violence. We will continue to be vigilant as we enforce our policies in the post-election period," a YouTube representative was quoted as saying.
