Former President Donald Trump is putting forward a new demand after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared some information about how his platform handled a major 2020 story.
During a recent interview with popular podcast host Joe Rogan, Zuckerberg shared that an FBI warning about potential foreign interference in the 2020 election played into Facebook’s decision to limit the reach of a New York Post story about a laptop that belonged to Hunter Biden.
In the wake of his comments, Trump took to his Truth Social platform and wrote, “So now it comes out, conclusively, that the FBI BURIED THE HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP STORY BEFORE THE ELECTION knowing that, if they didn’t, ‘Trump would have easily won the 2020 Presidential Election.'”
“This is massive FRAUD [and] ELECTION INTERFERENCE at a level never seen before in our Country,” he continued.
Finally, the former president added, “REMEDY: Declare the rightful winner or, and this would be the minimal solution, declare the 2020 Election irreparably compromised and have a new Election, immediately!”
Trump has repeatedly claimed that the 2020 election was stolen through widespread fraud. However, several legal challenges and recounts have failed to find evidence to substantiate his claims.
To be clear, Zuckerberg did not claim that the FBI explicitly urged Facebook to suppress the story about Hunter Biden. And in a tweet, Meta — the parent company of Facebook — wrote, “As we’ve said, nothing about the Hunter Biden laptop story is new.”
“Below is what Mark told Sen. Johnson in Oct 2020 and what Mark told Joe Rogan this week. The FBI shared general warnings about foreign interference – nothing specific about Hunter Biden,” it continued.
As we've said, nothing about the Hunter Biden laptop story is new. Below is what Mark told Sen. Johnson in Oct 2020 and what Mark told Joe Rogan this week. The FBI shared general warnings about foreign interference – nothing specific about Hunter Biden. https://t.co/pHtzvh6r0r
— Meta Newsroom (@MetaNewsroom) August 26, 2022
And the FBI told Fox Business in a statement that it gave companies “foreign threat indicators to help them protect their platforms and customers from abuse by foreign malign influence actors.”
“The FBI will continue to work closely with federal, state, local, and private sector partners to keep the public informed of potential threats, but the FBI cannot ask, or direct, companies to take action on information received,” the statement added.
As for Trump’s comments about a new election, there is no existing Constitutional provision that allows for a new election to be called because one candidate believes that a news story was unfairly suppressed.
Nor is there a provision that would let Trump simply be installed as president and have Biden kicked out.
And having the former president making headlines by talking about 2020 and the alleged need for a new election cannot be good for Republicans.
Up until a couple of weeks ago, it looked like Republicans might be on the cusp of a red tsunami that flips both chambers of Congress.
Now, as Biden has receded from the headlines throughout August — coupled with a decrease in gas prices and a dip in inflation — the media has focused on Trump and the Mar-a-Lago raid. And in the weeks since, the current president’s poll numbers have improved, and some Democrats are starting to think they could hold onto the House.
If Republicans want to completely blow their chances in November, talking about 2020 and somehow having a new presidential election is a fantastic way to do that.