The anonymous Twitter account “Comfortably Smug” was suspended from the platform Monday after posing a reasonable question while referencing former Vice President Joe Biden’s fat shaming of a voter in December.
Smug Industries, another account run by multiple users close to “Comfortably Smug,” shared a screenshot of the tweet that got the individual suspended where Smug asked, “Where’s Hunter, Fat???” on Feb. 1.
Smh the Biden campaign got Smug locked up until the Iowa caucuses start tonight pic.twitter.com/POjfjCdDfy
— SmugIndustries (@SmugIndustries) February 3, 2020
According to Twitter, the tweet violated the platform’s rules on “abuse and harassment,” resulting in a suspension that could last from 12 hours to seven days.
While the account’s timeout from Twitter comes on the day of the Iowa caucuses, it also happened as the account’s “Liberal Hack” tournament was nearing its championship matchup between Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin, who calls herself “conservative,” and CNN’s chief arbiter of objective journalism Brian Stelter. The march madness-style tournament had garnered more than 800,000 votes and received national media attention.
Users still have until 7pm tonight to cast their vote.
VOTING BEGINS NOW FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH OF THE FIRST ANNUAL SMUG INDUSTRIES LIBERAL HACK TOURNAMENT
(1) @brianstelter
vs
(2) @JRubinBlogger
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) February 3, 2020
During an Iowa town hall in early December, Biden fat shamed a voter who challenged the former vice president’s age and fitness for the Oval Office while claiming his son’s work with a Ukrainian energy company while Biden dictated U.S. policy towards Ukraine was disqualifying.
A whole lot going on in this video, including Biden appearing to make multiple veiled jabs at the Iowa voter's weight https://t.co/T087FFgoMf
— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) December 5, 2019
“Look, fat…” Biden said at the end of the exchange to a gasping audience.
Biden’s son, Hunter, served on the board of the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma making upwards of $50,000 a month despite no prior experience in the industry. A Federalist analysis of Hunter’s pay illustrates that Hunter was being showered with excess compensation when compared to board member pay of similar companies of the same scale. Board members serving on the board of Exxon Mobil for example, a company far larger than Burisma only reported earnings of little more than half of Hunter’s pay.
Smug has tweeted about Hunter Biden’s perceived conflict of interest before.
“It’s alarming to see an organization that pretends to promote free and fair dialogue around elections put a finger so heavily on the scale in favor of the Biden campaign the day of the Iowa Caucuses,” a spokesperson for Smug told the Daily Caller. “Mr. Smug was simply asking a question that countless journalists have asked, all while using Biden’s own verbiage.”
Twitter has developed a long history of suppressing conservatives on the platform.
In August, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s campaign account was briefly suspended from the site after posting a video of protestors outside the senator’s Kentucky home. The suspension prompted Republicans to temporarily boycott Twitter ads over the issue suspension.
That same week, the hashtag “#MassacreMitch” trended on the site for hours as people blamed McConnell for a pair of deadly back-to-back shootings in Ohio and Texas.
