Democrats press Facebook, Twitter to remove new Trump video of Pelosi

A growing number of Democratic lawmakers are calling for Twitter and Facebook to pull down an edited video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) posted by President Trump on Thursday, reigniting a battle over how much responsibility social media platforms should assume over viral footage that could mislead viewers.

The back-and-forth over the Pelosi video is opening up fresh wounds, as Democrats are still incensed by Twitter and Facebook’s previous decision to leave up different a manipulatively edited video of Pelosi that went viral last year. Pelosi’s deputy chief of staff Drew Hammill on Friday said the “latest fake video of Speaker Pelosi is deliberately designed to mislead and lie to the American people.”

“The American people know that the President has no qualms about lying to them – but it is a shame to see Twitter and Facebook, sources of news for millions, do the same,” Pelosi’s chief of staff Drew Hammill said on Friday. “Every day that these platforms refuse to take it down is another reminder that they care more about their shareholders’ interests than the public’s interests.”

Hammill said Pelosi’s office has asked both Twitter and Facebook to take down the video.

The five-minute video, which was pinned to the top of Trump’s powerful Twitter feed on Friday, shows Pelosi ripping up Trump’s State of the Union speech as he reunites a military family, announces a scholarship award for a young girl and awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh.