Biden Will 'Start From Zero' When He Takes Over @POTUS Twitter

Regular Member Posts : 7317 Join date : 2014-07-29

12-23-2020

The Trump administration inherited Obama's millions of Twitter followers in 2017 -
but Twitter said Biden will 'start from zero' when he takes over @POTUS, according to his team.

President-elect Joe Biden's digital director said Tuesday that Twitter told the transition team that the millions of followers on the official presidential accounts, including @POTUS, wouldn't transfer to Biden when he takes office.

President Donald Trump inherited almost 14 million followers from President Barack Obama in 2017
A Twitter spokesman, Nicholas Pacilio, told Business Insider that the company is "in ongoing discussions with the Biden transition team on a number of aspects related to White House account transfers."

When President Barack Obama left office in 2017, his administration urged Twitter to pass along not only the official accounts for the president and the White House but their millions of followers to President Donald Trump. Twitter appears to have complied.

That won't be happening when President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January, according to Biden's digital director, Rob Flaherty.

Flaherty tweeted on Tuesday morning that the company informed the Biden team that it "will have to start from zero" with its follower count.

The Biden transition team told Business Insider that the @POTUS, @FLOTUS, and @PressSec accounts would all start at zero followers.
Transition46, which will be rebranded as @WhiteHouse, according to the Biden team.

The team also said Facebook was allowing presidential accounts and their followers to be transferred to the Biden administration.

Flaherty referred to a Wall Street Journal report in which a Twitter spokesman, Nicolas Pacilio, said Twitter would transfer about 12 official presidential accounts to the Biden administration, including @POTUS and @WhiteHouse, after resetting their passwords.

In a statement to Business Insider, Pacilio said that "Twitter has been in ongoing discussions with the Biden transition team on a number of aspects related to White House account transfers."

Trump will be forced to abide by different Twitter rules when he becomes a private citizen in January, The Journal reported.

Trump's status as a political leader has granted him permission to post with less risk, and it prevents his tweets from being taken down or his account from being suspended. Those privileges will be stripped next month, Pacilio said.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Regular Member Posts : 7317 Join date : 2014-07-29

12-28-2020
US & Canada

Biden accuses US defence department of obstruction on transition.

US President-elect Joe Biden has accused the US defence department of "irresponsibility" for failing to give his team the information it needs for the transition of power.

He said his team had encountered "obstruction from the political leadership".

Mr Biden also claimed that agencies critical to US security have suffered "enormous damage" under Donald Trump.

Mr Biden takes office on 20 January but President Trump has refused to concede.

For weeks after the 3 November election, Mr Biden was blocked from receiving key intelligence briefings, an essential and normally routine part of a presidential transition.

After Mr Trump finally agreed to allow the formal transition process last month, Mr Biden praised the White House for its help in the process..

But his tone had changed on Monday. Mr Biden spoke after a briefing by national security and foreign policy aides.

In a speech which he posted on Twitter, Mr Biden said his team was facing "roadblocks" in the defence department and the Office of Management and Budget.

"Right now, we just aren't getting all the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas," he said.

"It's nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility."

The president-elect added that his team needed a "clear picture of our force posture around the world" and that US adversaries could exploit any confusion that resulted.

The president-elect described key security agencies as having been "hollowed out" in personnel, capacity and in morale.

"The policy processes have atrophied or have been sidelined," he added.

Mr Trump sacked his Defence Secretary Mark Esper shortly after the election, apparently over Mr Esper's disagreement with his call to deploy the military against anti-racism protesters.

Mr Trump's subsequent installation of loyalists in the department was viewed with concern by political opponents, who saw it as an attempt to sow chaos in the final weeks of his administration.

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