Why Steve Bannon Was Banned From Twitter And How Dr. Fauci Played A Role

Twitter suspended an account belonging to conservative figure Steve Bannon after he called for the beheading of two key government officials.

Speaking on his “War Room: Pandemic” podcast, Bannon suggested FBI Director Christopher Wray and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, be beheaded for not being more supportive of President Donald Trump's re-election bid.

“I'd put the heads on pikes. Right. I'd put them at the two corners of the White House as a warning to federal bureaucrats,” Bannon said. “You either get with the program or you are gone.”

A search of the popular social networking site found no account for Bannon, lending credence to reports of the suspension published Friday. On a website explaining its rules on suspensions, Twitter said it takes strong action against abusive or threatening behavior.

“When an account engages in abusive behavior, like sending threats to others or impersonating other accounts, we may suspend it temporarily or, in some cases, permanently,” a statement reads.

A spokesperson for Twitter was quoted by the Bloomberg news service as saying Bannon’s @warroompandemic handle was permanently removed because it violates “our policy on the glorification of violence.”

YouTube, owned by Google parent company Alphabet Inc., said it removed a video of Bannon’s remarks because of its “policy against inciting violence” and suspended his account for “at least a week.”

Bannon is a former chief strategist for the Trump White House, but left the position in 2017. He’s out on bail following an indictment for a fundraising scheme tied to the president’s plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Four men, including Bannon, were indicted in August for allegedly defrauding donors in an online crowd-funding campaign.

Trump has been a vocal critic of Fauci's since the beginning of the pandemic, suggesting he could better handle the outbreak of COVID-19 without the doctor. In October, the president said he was “disappointed” with Wray for not investigating allegations of voter fraud.

Neither Fauci nor Wray has commented about Bannon's remarks as of Friday morning.