Rep. Matt Gaetz doubled down on calling for the federal government to “hunt” Antifa members after Twitter censored his previous tweet for “glorifying violence.”
Twitter on Monday added a warning label to a tweet by the Florida Republican that read, “Now that we clearly see Antifa as terrorists, can we hunt them down like we do those in the Middle East?”
The warning, which requires users to click through to view Mr. Gaetz’s tweet, reads, “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.”
“The Tweet is in violation of our glorification of violence policy,” a Twitter spokesperson told Politico. “As is standard with this notice, engagements with the Tweet will be limited. People will be able to Retweet with Comment, but will not be able to Like, Reply or Retweet it.”
Mr. Gaetz later called the warning a “badge of honor.”
“Their warning is my badge of honor,” he tweeted. “Antifa is a terrorist organization, encouraging riots that hurt Americans. Our government should hunt them down. Twitter should stop enabling them. I’ll keep saying it.”
“We hunt down terrorists in the Middle East by having our government (not vigilantes) monitor their communications, freeze their money and stop them from committing attacks,” he wrote in an earlier tweet. “American lives, businesses & property are more deserving of our strong protection than distant sand dunes.
The comments come after President Trump announced he plans to designate the largely white, militant leftist group Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization.
