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Facebook is heading into dangerous territory…. The Lincoln Project calls on Facebook to remove erroneous censorship tag

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, May 8, 2020

Contact: Jennifer Horn

(202) 599-6962

[email protected]

WASHINGTON, DC US, May 8, 2020 – Today, The Lincoln Project issued a statement in response to Facebook’s decision to censor the ad entitled, “Mourning in America.”

“The Lincoln Project stands by every single word in our ad. Trump and his team are rattled. And it’s no surprise. We know that the one attack that Donald Trump can not confront is TRUTH. Facebook’s decision to censor The Lincoln Project is in error, but it will not silence us. We will not be bullied by this President or anyone else,” said Jennifer Horn, co-founder of The Lincoln Project. “We will continue to take every available avenue to educate the American people about the dangerous failures of this narcissistic, unstable, incompetent President.”

“The Lincoln Project calls on Facebook to remove this erroneous tag and allow America to see the “Mourning in America” ad on their platform.”

Here is the claim we made: “Donald Trump bailed out Wall Street, not Main Street.”

From Merriam Webster: “In popular culture “Wall Street” stands in contrast to “Main Street.” While Wall Street is used to describe the capital markets and the financial industry, Main Street is typically used to describe the larger economy in which the vast majority of people live and work.”

This crisis has wreaked havoc on the health of both the American people and the American economy. “As the economy reels from coronavirus shutdowns, more than 33 million people have applied for benefits in seven weeks” (USA TODAY).

Small business owners cannot get the loans they need to pay their employees and stay open. According to Business Insider, “Just half of Americans say that they got a stimulus payment, and only half of those say it was enough.”

Trump’s friends, big banks, and corporations were able to cut the line while those on “Main Street” were left in the dust (Business InsiderThe Washington Post).

Facebook states that their censorship is the result of a Politifact claim that the Mourning in America ad is “false.” However, Politifact’s “grade” is based on incorrect and misleading information.

Politifact cites the CARES Act as the reasoning behind their tag of “False”. The Lincoln Project does not cite the CARES Act as the basis of the claims in our ad.

We cite Bloomberg, BusinessweekCommon DreamsNBC, Rolling Stone and a list of other reputable sources that back up The Lincoln Project’s claim.

The Lincoln Project is not alone in our assertion of Donald Trump’s favoritism towards Wall Street during this global pandemic.

Charlie Gasparino, the Senior correspondent atFox Business Network,wrote in an Op-ed for the NY Post, “These measures will almost certainly benefit Wall Street and market speculation — even as their impact on Main Street will be slow to come.” He also wrote, “Wall Street traders will make money, while Main Street businesses face economic conditions not seen since the Great Depression.”

Private equity, one of the largest sectors of the financial industry, is looking to cash in on COVID-19 relief money. According to an article from Vanity Fair, “Among those angling for a federal handout is one of the wealthiest sectors of the American economy: private equity. These firms not only have a record $1.5 trillion in cash on the sidelines, waiting to be invested, but their CEOs are among America’s richest executives. So why should they be permitted to raid the federal Treasury in a time of crisis?”

At the same time, Facebook has a well-documented history of having allowed misinformation, doctored videos, fake accounts, factually absent statements, and a provably false ad run by the Trump Campaign to remain available on their site helping to disseminate his disinformation and propaganda machine.

“The Lincoln Project is committed to the truth. We will not be bullied. We are not afraid of this President.”

The President is corrupt and dangerous and he will stop at nothing to maintain his image. This is a new level of collusion on behalf of the President of the United States. The Lincoln Project will not back down. We will fight because we believe in the truth and we will continue to take this fight directly to Donald Trump. He cannot hide behind a bogus Facebook warning.

ADDITIONAL SOURCES FOR THE CLAIM – “TRUMP BAILED OUT WALL ST, NOT MAIN ST”

Line From Ad: “Today more than 60,000 Americans have died from the deadly virus Trump ignored”

Line From Ad: “More than 26 million Americans are out of work…the worst economy in decades.”

Line From Ad: “Trump bailed out wall street but not main street.”

Line From Ad: “This afternoon, millions of Americans will apply for unemployment”

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