Twitter has added a 'Community Note' to a Tweet by Trump War Room criticizing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's Covid-19 response.
Twitter, which famously banned Donald Trump, a sitting US President from their platform in January, 2021 but reinstated his account a year and a half later after Elon Musk bought the company, added a 'Community Note' to the tweet reading: "Readers added context they thought people would like to know. This tweet references the article below, but cuts off the rest of the topline: “but the governor quickly dropped that approach and has not looked back, to the point where he's been hailed as an anti-restriction hero on the right and staked a legal fight against Covid vaccines.” The label had a link to the Forbes article attached.
Lockdowns. Armed Checkpoints. School Shutdowns. Beach and Business Closures.@Forbes: In 2020, Ron DeSantis issued some of the most draconian Covid restrictions of anywhere in the United States. pic.twitter.com/RkC7jVDhjp
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) March 29, 2023
The Trump War Room tweet shows clips of DeSantis imposing check-points on the Florida/Alabama line in March of 2020 in an effort to prevent spread of Covid from people traveling from New York. The post also shows a clip of DeSantis from March 17, 2020 announcing remote learning for Florida Universities and the closure of bars and nightclubs due to Covid. Various news clips from March of 2020 are shown as well as a clip of DeSantis from March 27, 2020 announcing the suspension of vacation rentals due to Covid.
Twitter calls Community Notes a "collaborative way to keep people better informed". According to Twitter, the decision to add a community note is decided by Twitter contributors. "All contributors start with the ability to rate notes, and over time, can ear the ability to write. Community Notes identifies notes that are found helpful by and for people with different points of view."
Musk tweeted his support for DeSantis for President in June, 2022. When asked who he was leaning toward supporting Musk replied "DeSantis". Musk said he supported Democrat Andrew Yang last election but he says "DeSantis has a better chance of winning."
Representatives for the Trump campaign and DeSantis's office were both contacted for comment but have not replied as of the publishing of this story.
