Donald Trump furious with Twitter as #diaperdon trends

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after participating in a Thanksgiving video teleconference with members of the military forces at the White House in Washington
#diaperdon began trending after Mr Trump was pictured sitting at a small table
REUTERS
Luke O'Reilly27 November 2020

Donald Trump has claimed that a law protecting Twitter from liability over its users’ post must be scrapped due to “national security” fears as he was mocked online with the hashtag #diaperdon.

The outgoing US President called for Section 230, which protects website publishers from liability for third-party content under US law, to be “immediately terminated” after claiming that Twitter was fabricating its trends to solely portray “negative stuff”.

The president's outburst came as the term #diaperdon trended on Twitter. The term went viral as pictures were shared of the President sitting at a small desk during last night’s White House press conference.  

“Twitter is sending out totally false “Trends” that have absolutely nothing to do with what is really trending in the world,” he wrote. 

"They make it up, and only negative “stuff”. Same thing will happen to Twitter as is happening to @FoxNews daytime. Also, big Conservative discrimination!"

He added in a second tweet: "For purposes of National Security, Section 230 must be immediately terminated!!!"

His tweets prompted even more reaction, with the term becoming the number one trend in several countries around the world. 

Meanwhile, Mr Trump said that he will leave the White House if the Electoral College formalises President-Elect Joe Biden's victory — even as he insisted such a decision would be a "mistake".

"Certainly I will. But you know that," Mr Trump said Thursday when asked whether he would vacate the building, allowing a peaceful transition of power in January.

However, Mr Trump — taking questions for the first time since Election Day — insisted that "a lot of things" would happen between now and then that might alter the results.

"This has a long way to go," Mr Trump said.

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to a Thanksgiving video teleconference with members of the military forces at the White House in Washington
The table came up to just above Mr Trump’s knees when standing
REUTERS

The outgoing President claimed, despite the results, that this may not be his last Thanksgiving at the White House. He told reporters that there had been "massive fraud," even though state officials and international observers have said no evidence of that exists and Trump's campaign has repeatedly failed in court.

The Trump administration has already given the green light for a formal transition to get underway. Although Mr Trump took issue with Mr Biden moving forward.

"I think it's not right that he's trying to pick a Cabinet," Me Trump said, even though officials from both teams are already working together to get the Biden team up to speed.

All states must certify their results before the Electoral College meets on December 14, and any challenge to the results must be resolved by December 8. States have already begun that process, including Michigan, where Mr Trump and his allies tried and failed to delay the process, and Georgia and Pennsylvania.

Vote certification at the local and state level is typically a ministerial task that gets little notice, but that changed this year with Mr Trump's refusal to concede and his unprecedented attempts to overturn the results of the election through a fusillade of legal challenges and attempts to manipulate the certification process in battleground states he lost.

Mr Biden won by wide margins in both the Electoral College and popular vote, where he received nearly 80 million votes, a record.

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