Quick Take: Twitter fact checks Trump; Race tensions amid growing US inequality
May 30, 2020
VIDEOSGZERO World with Ian BremmerQuick TakePUPPET REGIMEIan ExplainsGZERO ReportsAsk IanGlobal Stage
Site Navigation
Search
Human content,
AI powered search.
Latest Stories
Sign up for GZERO Daily.
Get our latest updates and insights delivered to your inbox.
Global Stage: Live from Munich
WATCH RECORDING
Video
GZERO Media videos bring you the latest news and analysis about global news and geopolitics, including our television program "GZERO World with Ian Bremmer" and political satire series "Puppet Regime."
Presented by
Ian Bremmer's Quick Take:
We've got first of all, a Twitter war. There is always a Twitter war. You know, nobody really wants to take Trump on. Everyone says they're deeply concerned, right? You've got Mitt Romney - why are you going after Joe Scarborough? Unacceptable. Could censor him? Not going to do that. Susan Collins - oh, I don't know, I really am not comfortable. She's not going to do anything.
No, no, no. Jack, Jack Dorsey, Twitter's CEO, says enough of it. He's using my social media platform as a flame thrower. And he's saying I am going to start fact checking Trump on Twitter. And that does not go over very well.
If you fact check Trump on Twitter, that probably means more people are going to pay attention to those tweets because there's controversy around them and that's really what Trump wants, is eyeballs. Secondly, you start fact checking Trump and you know, it's politics. It is really hard to understand were fact checking starts and where it stops. Both of the president who, yes, does lie all the time and exaggerates constantly and that's how he became president, but it is not unknown to politicians to exaggerate and even lie, even if not to a degree of Trump. And Twitter has all those politicians on their platform. And so, one, who's going to make that judgment? And two, it's expensive to do that stuff. And then three, and here's what's most interesting, Mark Zuckerberg throws Jack Dorsey under a face bus. Finally, anyone but Zuckerberg is in the crosshairs. And Facebook, of course, with, you know, well over a billion users and vastly more important for Trump and for Trump's campaign than Twitter is like, no, no, I'm not going to be the person who decides what is and is not fake news on my platform. Even though Facebook, by the way, does do that and de-platforms people all the time who are promoting hate speech and indeed fake news around coronavirus cures. They shut down President Bolsonaro in Brazil for precisely that. But he doesn't want to get into a fight with Trump. Why not? Well, because that's important from a regulatory perspective, meaning cash, cash, cash for Facebook.
I think this is going to end up being a big nothing burger. I don't think it matters much for Trump. I don't think it matters much for social media. But it is going to be a lot of effort for Jack and probably very little payoff. Social media is a flaming dumpster fire. But that's, of course, why people spend time on it, you follow the people that you like, and then you follow a few people that you hate. There's definitely a niche. We're trying not to do that. But it's a small niche. It's so much easier to just throw red meat at people that agree with you all the time and spike everyone else in.
So that's my take on the Twitter war.
It's always the little guy that gets screwed in this environment, which, of course, brings us to Minneapolis. Why are we having this fighting going on right now? Well, massive inequality in the United States, which obviously has racial overtones to. It's been growing for decades now. But on top of that, 40 million people unemployed. On top of that, six to eight percent economic contraction this year. And on top of that, lots of video amplified by social media and much more political extremism and continued plenty of, you know, hate crimes going on, including over policing and no rights being taken care of by blacks that are suspected of crimes as opposed to whites. And, you know, this keeps going on. It's not new. It's been happening for decades and decades in the United States, despite civil rights in this country, despite Martin Luther King in this country, despite the effort to truly fight, the first black president in this country. None of these issues were addressed. Police killings were the same at the beginning of the Obama administration as they were at the end. And inequality has only grown. And after four years of Trump, same story. So, not surprising in a place like Minneapolis. Immense racial disparity and inequality in Minneapolis, too.
I know we talk about Minnesota nice, but certainly not what we're seeing on display right now and plenty of other cities around the country that have experienced these problems that are going to take to the streets to. Social dissent should not surprise us, particularly when the inequality is going to grow so much and when our ability to take care of these people will be so constrained, given just how much need there is, something that will be weaponized in this election.
Fortunately, Biden at least is trying to be the candidate for empathy. Unfortunately, he gets none of the headlines. This is going to be about Trump. He drives the social media conversation. He has the vast majority followers and he is the person that the headlines want to be written about. And so, as a consequence, I think you're going to see vastly more divisiveness over the course of this crisis. You're likely to see more violence. And Trump is going to do his best to use that to intensify the support for his base and get them to turn out in larger numbers than those that support Biden.
I still don't have a strong call on who's going to win in November. Looks pretty tight. The country is really divided, and swing states are still pretty close. But what's very clear is that this is going to be ugly and unfortunately, it's also going to be violent.
Keep reading...Show less
More from Video
Quick Take
Mar 19, 2026
Iran conflict brings energy boon for some, doom for others
March 19, 2026
Putin: The real winner of the US-Iran war?
March 18, 2026
What’s Good Wednesdays™, March 18, 2026
March 18, 2026
Why are car buyers pumping the breaks?
March 18, 2026
Puppet Regime
Mar 18, 2026
Europe’s muted response on Iran
March 18, 2026
ask ian
Mar 17, 2026
How a global coalition disrupted Tycoon 2FA
March 17, 2026
Europe pays for a war it doesn’t want
March 17, 2026
The Pentagon’s growing grip on AI
March 17, 2026
Regime invades streamers with Special Military Operation
March 16, 2026
War in Iran disrupts global shipping
March 16, 2026
Iran conflict threatens water supply for millions
March 16, 2026
Endgame in Iran?
March 16, 2026
Ian Explains
Mar 13, 2026
Trump’s Cabinet: fewer firings, familiar problems
March 13, 2026
Trump tries to name a new leader of Iran
March 13, 2026
You vs. the News: A Weekly News Quiz - March 13, 2026
March 13, 2026
AI will be on the ballot in the 2026 midterms
March 12, 2026
Can Trump turn the economy around before the midterms?
March 12, 2026
How Trump’s Iran gamble backfired
March 11, 2026
What’s Good Wednesdays™ -Oscars Edition
March 11, 2026
Investing in skills. Strengthening communities.
March 11, 2026
What is Trump's exit strategy from Iran?
March 10, 2026
How a global coalition disrupted Tycoon 2FA
March 10, 2026
Trump bashes globalization, but Americans still buy foreign
March 10, 2026
Trump's war of choice in Iran
March 09, 2026
A strong day for Colombia’s center-right
March 09, 2026
Graphic Truth: Netanyahu’s strategic window in Iran
March 09, 2026
Trump's tariff pivot after SCOTUS ruling
March 09, 2026
The Supreme Court checks Trump’s tariff power
March 06, 2026
Tehran's best and worst-case scenarios
March 06, 2026
For Hezbollah, is the writing on the wall?
March 06, 2026
You vs. the News: A Weekly News Quiz - March 6, 2026
March 05, 2026
After decapitation, what’s next?
March 04, 2026
Nuclear is back on the global agenda
March 04, 2026
Iran conflict: who could run out of weapons first?
March 04, 2026
What’s Good Wednesdays™, March 4, 2026
March 04, 2026
What comes next in the US-Israel war with Iran?
March 03, 2026
German lesson: Merz tries a balancing act at the White House
March 03, 2026
Empowering communities to enable the global AI economy
March 03, 2026
Trump & Netanyahu's war plans hit a snag of "utmost concern"
March 03, 2026
Iran conflict spirals, with no end in sight
March 02, 2026
How the Iran conflict could disrupt the world’s oil supply
March 02, 2026
Almost everyone in Iran “just waiting for Ayatollah Khamenei to die”
February 28, 2026
The US and Israel struck Iran. What happens next?
February 28, 2026
The US and Israel launch war on Iran
February 28, 2026
Iran at war with Carnegie’s Karim Sadjadpour
February 28, 2026
Is the US on the brink of war with Iran?
February 28, 2026
Trump and Khamenei hold last ditch Iran nuclear talks
February 27, 2026
GZERO Series
© 2026 GZERO Media. All Rights Reserved | A Eurasia Group company.
GZERO Daily: our free newsletter about global politics
Keep up with what’s going on around the world - and why it matters.