Twitter restores Mitch McConnell's campaign account after Republican outcry

Mitch McConnell.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The campaign of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is being let out of Twitter jail.

McConnell's Team Mitch Twitter account earlier this week was locked after sharing a video of protesters calling for the Republican leader's death outside of his home, where he was recovering from a fall. Twitter at the time said that McConnell's account violated its violent threat policies by posting this video, a decision McConnell's team was highly critical of. The Republican National Committee and President Trump's campaign both said in response that they would suspend advertising with Twitter until this situation was resolved, The Wall Street Journal reports.

On Friday, though, Twitter restored McConnell's account, saying it had done so after reviewing the case "more closely" and "confirming" the campaign's "intent to highlight the threats for public discussion."

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Twitter also said that the original video showing the threats would be restored "with a sensitive media interstitial and only in cases where the Tweet content does not otherwise violate the Twitter Rules." The tweet that got McConnell's account locked, which Twitter had originally said the campaign would need to delete before the account would be unlocked, is now back online.

The McConnell campaign on Friday afternoon celebrated Twitter's reversal, writing, "Victory!!!"

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.