Donald Trump, Jr. slammed Instagram on Monday after he said the social media platform forced him to delete a post he made about reports that Jussie Smollett’s alleged attack might have been staged.
“Are you kidding me @Instagram? You took down this post??? I mean I got a message you took one down but you wouldn’t even let me see it or give me a real reason so I assume it’s this one or one like it,” Trump Jr. captioned his post, along with a screenshot of a tweet he made referencing CBS News’ post alleging Smollett had paid two men to fake a hate crime against him. (RELATED: Chicago Police Say ‘Empire’ Actor Refuses To Turn Over Phone Records)
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A spokesperson for Trump Jr. told The Daily Caller that Instagram forced the president’s son to delete his post about Smollett, otherwise he would be unable to access his account.
Trump Jr.’s deleted post sarcastically joked that the alleged attack against Smollett “seemed so real.” (RELATED: Authorities Seeking ‘Persons Of Interest’ In ‘Empire’ Star Jussie Smollett’s Alleged Attack)
“Shocked, I really thought MAGA folks (who are all over downtown Chicago) were waiting with a rope/bottle of bleach to ambush a [rich] guy at 2am in minus 4 degrees because those are conditions where all people go out for Subway rather than order Seamless,” he wrote, adding three eye-roll emojis at the end.
A short time later, Trump Jr. made another post about Hollywood actors reportedly deleting their posts calling for justice for the “Empire” actor following his alleged assault, in light of news reports that Smollett might have staged the attack.
“Speaks for itself. I hope @Instagram wont arbitrarily choose to censor this one,” Trump Jr. wrote.
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A spokesperson for Instagram apologized for removing the post Monday and told The Daily Caller that it was removed “in error.”
“This image was removed in error and has now been restored, we apologize for the mistake,” the spokesperson said, declining to indicate why the post was flagged in the first place.
The post was restored to Trump Jr.’s account as of approximately 5:30 p.m. EST.
GOP spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany faced similar censorship issues with Instagram recently, as she was asked to delete a post about Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s claims to Native American heritage.
McEnany’s post contained a copy of Warren’s Texas Bar registration in which she identified herself as an American Indian. The registration form also listed Warren’s old office address, which Instagram claimed to have incorrectly flagged as a home address.
“We incorrectly removed this image for including personal information, in this case the home address of someone else, which is not allowed on Instagram,” an Instagram spokesperson told the Caller. “On secondary review, we confirmed that the image included an office address and not a personal home address. The content has now been restored and we apologize for the mistake.”