Twitter suspended the official account of an Indiana congressman Jim Banks after removing a post about a transgender Biden administration official that violated the social media company’s rules.
Twitter’s action came after Republican Rep. Jim Banks commented on Dr. Rachel Levine becoming the first openly transgender four-star officer in the United States uniformed services.
Banks tweeted about Levine on the same day she was sworn in as an admiral in the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.
“The title of first female four-star officer gets taken by a man,” Banks tweeted Tuesday. See below:
NEW: Twitter has censored @RepJimBanks for calling HHS' Rachel Levine a man. He will be locked out of his account until he deletes the tweet, "The title of first female four-star officer gets taken by a man." pic.twitter.com/6wdDqJ36kH
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) October 23, 2021
“Calling someone that was born and lived as a man for 54 years the first ‘female’ four-star officer is an insult to every little girl who dreams of breaking glass ceilings one day,” Banks said in another tweet.
The post was removed with a reference to Twitter rules that include a ban on “targeted misgendering” of transgender people. Banks’ official Twitter account remained online Sunday, but he wasn’t allowed to add new posts. His personal account with fewer followers remained active.
“Twitter has suspended my official account for posting a statement of FACT,” Banks tweeted on his personal account.
Banks, whose district covers Fort Wayne and surrounding northeastern Indiana, has frequently drawn attention with social media comments. He stood by his post about Levine.
“My tweet was a statement of fact,” Banks said in a statement. “Big Tech doesn’t have to agree with me, but they shouldn’t be able to cancel me. If they silence me, they will silence you. We can’t allow Big Tech to prevent us from telling the truth.”
