CBP chief says Twitter locked his account for pro-border wall message
Morgan said his tweet was deleted and he was locked out of his account
The acting head of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said Thursday that Twitter had locked him out of his account after he sent out a tweet in support of the wall at the southern border -- a move likely to further fuel concerns about the tech giant’s alleged bias.
“This should outrage every American citizen, because they didn’t lock me out, they locked you out,” acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan told reporters. “They imposed their own ideology, their own belief system, to justify keeping the truth from the American people because it didn't fit the very obvious and transparent agenda.”
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Morgan said his tweet, touting the 400 miles of wall at the border that the Trump administration has built since 2017, was deleted and he was locked out of his account.
"We took enforcement action on the Tweet you referenced, but the decision was reversed following an appeal by the account owner and further evaluation from our team," a Twitter spokesperson told Fox News.
The Federalist, which first broke news of the suspension, reported that the tweet declared “walls work.”
“Every mile helps us stop gang members, murderers, sexual predators and drugs from entering our country,” it said. The outlet reported that Twitter locked the account for violating rules governing “hateful conduct.”
“You may not promote violence against, threaten, or harass other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease,” Twitter wrote in an email explaining the suspension.
Morgan rejected that claim on Thursday.
“My tweet intended to educate the American people that borders matter and the great things done by the men and women of CBP and DHS as a whole,” he said. “My tweet was intended to emphasize that border security is national security and that tweet was similar to hundreds and hundreds of tweets I’ve sent over the past couple of years.”
“None of you got to see that tweet, Americans across this great country didn't get to see that tweet or the critical information that was contained in the tweet because Twitter removed that tweet and they locked my account yesterday,” he said.
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Morgan later was let back into his account and released a statement via the platform.
It is the latest action against Trump administration officials, and will likely fuel accusations of bias -- a day after senators grilled CEO Jack Dorsey about alleged bias and censoring of conservatives.
"Mr. Dorsey, who the hell elected you and put you in charge of what the media are allowed to report and what the American people are allowed to hear, and why do you persist in behaving as a Democratic super PAC silencing views to the contrary of your political beliefs?" Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, asked.
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Republicans have highlighted the restrictions on stories about Hunter Biden, Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s son, as well as action against President Trump -- who has had warning labels slapped on his tweets. Twitter has denied accusations of bias on a number of occasions.
The Trump campaign’s national press secretary, Hogan Gidley, had his account suspended last week, just hours before a presidential debate, after he tweeted about his experience of being sent absentee ballot materials intended for someone else.
Fox News' R.N. White and Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.