In response to @twitter& #39;s actions to fact check the false and harmful statements of Trump, Republicans, instinctively, are trying to distract with whataboutism & China.

This is a red herring.

Chinese gov& #39;t statements on Twitter are different. I& #39;ll explain.
Yes, the Chinese government spouts propaganda on Twitter about all kinds of things.

Most of their impact is on Chinese-speaking audiences, which is *not* as most of you have noticed, Twitter. Chinese use WeChat or other platforms.
But for Chinese government statements on Twitter, English-speaking audiences know that & discount accordingly. Americans on a bipartisan basis are unlikely to trust Chinese government statements, especially on things that affect Americans.

We are skeptical of the Chinese.
Also, Chinese government statements -- even in English--don& #39;t have nearly the reach in American audiences that a President& #39;s tweets have. Nor do they land the same way. They are fact-checked and contextualized by English speaking media to the extent they reach anyone at all.
Unlike Chinese government statements, Trump& #39;s tweets can reach parts of the American public directly, without context, or through a media bubble designed to be uncritical.

That Presidents reach the American people directly didn& #39;t used to be a problem.
In the past, American President& #39;s statements were often treated as definitive statements about how things *are*. Because past American Presidents took care to ensure a factual basis for what they said & didn& #39;t want to be proven wrong.
Trump& #39;s blatant disregard for the truth can have dangerous consequences for the lives of Americans as a whole. See: defeat of ISIS, hurricane trajectories, pandemic seriousness, PPE availability, drug efficacy.
And, Trump& #39;s false tweets can have a dangerous effect on our trust in our own democracy.

To mitigate this harm, @twitter flagged his tweets about mail-in ballots.

This doesn& #39;t address the harm for his other tweets, but it& #39;s a start.
Interestingly, Republicans don& #39;t dispute Trump& #39;s tweets are false, but claim all false statements should be treated the same.

They do not argue Presidents have an obligation to be truthful with the American people.

They don& #39;t ask Trump to stop making false statements.
We should ask, why do Republicans, as a party, condone repeated false statements by the President?

Do they not believe that America should be better? That America should strive for truth, and impartial justice? Isn& #39;t that an inherent part of the American way?
Doesn& #39;t the American President owe the American people more than what we would expect out of a communist Chinese government that suppresses speech and freedom?

Shouldn& #39;t an American President be deeply embarrassed that @twitter had to flag their statements as false?
If the President cared about the truth, then @twitter wouldn& #39;t have had to do it.
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