Twitter Covers for Joe Biden and Jimmy Carter

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Whatever one thinks of the conservative complaints about Big Tech’s bias, it is hard to deny certain concrete examples of it — particularly of the most blatant variety. Case in point, the “helpful” explainer Twitter provided when a tweet by Donald Trump Jr. comparing Joe Biden to Jimmy Carter began trending:

You don’t have to be Donald Trump Jr. to be aware that the historical record of Jimmy Carter’s presidency included a period of overlapping high inflation and high unemployment (“stagflation”), something many at the time thought was impossible. As today’s jobs report revealed persisting unemployment, and some indicators suggesting imminent inflation (following a massive federal spending spree), this comparison may ultimately prove apt. So the only thing people should be “confused” about is why Twitter felt it necessary to play defense for Biden (and Carter, by extension) by creating an impossible-to-prove consensus of confusion over this comparison, one it then employed unrelated — and highly dubious — claims about Carter’s post-presidential activities to purportedly resolve — in the favor of the two Democratic presidents. (Forget for a moment the backhanded compliment implied by having to go to a president’s post-presidential activities to find something good to say about him.) When conservatives complain about bias in Big Tech, this is the kind of thing they mean. And here, it is impossible to dispute. So please share this Corner post widely; perhaps, if it becomes popular enough, Twitter will be forced to explain it as well. 

Jack Butler is submissions editor at National Review Online.