Facebook has removed a campaign video by Republican Missouri US Senate candidate Eric Greitens that shows him brandishing a shotgun and declaring that he is hunting RINOs, an acronym that stands for Republicans In Name Only. RINO is a term of derision that former President Donald Trump and his allies use to label moderate or establishment Republicans
In the video campaign advertisement on Monday, Greitens, a former Missouri governor who resigned in disgrace in 2018, is flanked by an armed tactical unit outside a home on a tree-lined street as he whispers: The RINO feeds on corruption and is marked by the stripes of cowardice The armed tactical team then breaks through the front door and throws what appear to be flash-bang grenades inside. Greitens enters an empty living room through the smoke and says, “Join the MAGA crew. Get a RINO hunting permit. There’s no bagging limit, no tagging limit and it doesn t expire until we save our country Facebook said the video was removed “for violating our policies prohibiting violence and incitement”. Twitter said Greitens’s post violated its rules on abusive behaviour but was leaving it up because it was in the “public’s interest” for the tweet to be viewable. Twitter’s move prevented the post from being shared any further. Greitens responded by saying “Big Tech” — a term Trump frequently used in reference to large technological companies — were “meddling” in elections and putting their thumb on the scale
Completely irresponsible
The video comes at a time of renewed focus on violence in politics following fatal mass shootings and threats to government officials Two weeks ago, a man carrying a gun, a knife and zip ties was arrested near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s house after threatening to kill the justice
