Trump has time to block Stephen King and an LGBT-friendly veterans group, but not to mark Pride Month
Donald Trump has blocked Stephen King, an LGBT-friendly veterans group and an Army veteran who served at Guantanamo Bay on Twitter.
Then – apparently unaware of the irony – he tweeted out congratulations to the Army on its 242nd birthday.
Trump’s Muslim Ban has once again been shot down by the courts, his healthcare bill is floundering and investigations into accusations of collusion between his campaign team and Russia are making headlines every day.
He could take the time to mark Pride Month, which he has studiously avoided despite proclaiming June to be “National Homeownership Month” and “National Ocean Month,” thus ending an eight-year tradition.
But instead, he has decided to praise anti-LGBTQ groups and go on a Twitter blocking spree that has affected a bestselling author and some veterans.
This weekend, the president attended a conference by the Faith and Freedom Coalition, which opposes same-sex marriage, promotes ex-gay therapy and calls homosexuality “preventable and treatable.”
In a speech at the event, he showered compliments on the group’s founder, Ralph Reed, who has claimed that same-sex marriage and slavery are “similar”.
Trump said Reed’s feats were “extraordinary,” and called his group a “really nationwide, beautiful movement”.
And this week, he engaged in a Twitter rampage.
The first victim: Stephen King, famous for writing horror books, Shawshank Redemption and barbed tweets about Trump.
The longtime critic of Trump despaired about his new situation.
Trump has blocked me from reading his tweets. I may have to kill myself.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) June 13, 2017
He carried on his lamentations, saying that he had been “condemned to an existential wasteland of Trumplessness!”
But don’t worry – Harry Potter author JK Rowling was ready to step in and help, like a true Gryffindor.
I still have access. I'll DM them to you. https://t.co/MhibEYDBTg— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 13, 2017
Chat show host Stephen Colbert had an excellent point to make about why the president may have blocked the creator of It.
Stephen King has been blocked by Trump on Twitter. I guess his book about a scary clown hit too close to home.— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) June 14, 2017
But King wasn’t alone in his wasteland of Trumplessness.
The leader of the free world, who reversed President Obama’s protections of transgender children who want to use the bathroom of their choice, also attacked a feminist behavioural scientist.
Caroline O tweeted about the Muslim Ban and foreign policies, and was met with the most petulant punishment a president can provide.
Trump blocked me today for 1 (or both) of these threads. It'd be a shame if anyone RTd them.https://t.co/O0woTl3Wuzhttps://t.co/Q9aJea5rMz pic.twitter.com/XfIS9cQwop— Caroline O. (@RVAwonk) June 14, 2017
Trump also blocked LGBT-friendly veterans group VoteVets, despite having often claimed he supports veterans.
The Commander in Chief can block @VoteVets, the voice of 500k military veterans and families, but we will NOT be silenced. pic.twitter.com/SaCN5hKU9R
— VoteVets (@votevets) June 13, 2017
And – speaking of veterans – Trump also blocked Brandon Neely, a former Guantanamo Bay guard.
Looks like he is blocking all veterans. Blocked me as well pic.twitter.com/m4HqyXIAsV— Brandon Neely (@BrandonTXNeely) June 13, 2017
Then he congratulated the army, because irony is dead.
Happy birthday to U.S. ARMY and our soldiers. Thank you for your bravery, sacrifices, & dedication. Proud to be your Commander-in-Chief!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 14, 2017