The National
Republican Senate Committee (NRSC), the Senate GOP's campaign arm, terminated its spending on
Twitter advertisements Thursday, expressing outrage that Senator Mitch McConnell's Twitter account was locked after his team shared a video of
protesters making threats against him outside his house.The NRSC called the mammoth social-media platform's move "outrageous" and said ad spending would be cut off indefinitely.“Twitter’s hostile actions toward Leader McConnell’s campaign are outrageous, and we will not tolerate it,” NRSC spokesman Jesse Hunt said. “The NRSC will suspend all spending with Twitter until further notice. We will not spend our resources on a platform that silences conservatives.”The Kentucky Republican's account was locked on Wednesday for posting footage of protesters shouting obscenities and making violent threats outside of his home, which the company said violates its “violent threats policy.”A woman identified as Black Lives Matter Louisville leader Chanelle Helm can be heard saying in the video that McConnell “should have broken his little, raggedy, wrinkled-a*s neck,” in the recent fall that resulted in a broken shoulder from which he is currently recovering. Another woman can be heard talking about stabbing McConnell in the heart.“This is a problem with the speech
police in America today,” McConnell’s campaign manager, Kevin Golden, said in a statement. "Twitter will allow the words of 'Massacre Mitch' to trend nationally on their platform but locks our account for posting actual threats against us. We appealed and Twitter stood by their decision, saying our account will remain locked until we delete the video."“Silicon Valley is trying to silence conservatives,” read a fundraising email from the Committee, adding that supporters should “push back.”Other Republican lawmakers expressed their support for the Senate leader, with some pledging to join the NRSC in ceasing to spend money on Twitter ads until his account is restored."Agree with the NRSC. Team Marsha won't spend resources on Twitter until the Team Mitch account is back. StopTheBias," read a tweet from Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn's account.