It's Never Been Easier for Twitter to Ban Trump

Jack Dorsey, this is your moment, man. Politico reports that Twitter was cut from a meeting Wednesday between President-elect Donald Trump and tech executives because the company refused to create an emoji for the hashtag #CrookedHillary. While most people are aware of just how salty of a curmudgeon Trump can be at times, this is a new level of pettiness. Right now would be the perfect time for Twitter CEO, Dorsey, to formally ban the former reality television host turned president-elect from the website, giving a much needed PR boost for the company, and likely putting Dorsey himself into the history books.

Here’s a little more context of what went down when Team Trump tried to personify #CrookedHillary into a little emoji illustration. Director of Digital Advertising and Fundraising for the Trump campaign, Gary Coby, published a Medium post back in November explaining Twitter’s egregious betrayal. According to Coby, there were various rounds of debates about the emoji, including several mockups, such as a moneybag with wings, but ultimately Dorsey pulled the plug on the campaign.

There’s no doubt that Trump has exorbitantly used Twitter over the past couple months, helping get himself elected. But if all those other reprehensible things Trump has done and endorses haven’t already been enough to banish him from Twitter, let his snub and aim at Dorsey’s ego be the final nail in the coffin. He should delete his account just as Hillary Clinton urged him to do mere months ago — or rather, have Twitter delete it for him.

Twitter’s employees and Dorsey have already had the cajones to stand up against Trump. Twitter is the only tech behemoth that has refused any involvement in the president-elect’s proposed Muslim registry, prohibiting the use of any Twitter data for surveillance purposes. Meanwhile, other CEOs like Amazon’s Jeff Bezos have all been like “I for one give him my most open mind.” Yes, give an open mind to an openly misogynistic, Cheeto-orange man.

Dorsey should ride that momentum, and with the tap of a few buttons simply delete Trump’s Twitter account. It could possibly even help Twitter’s dropping share prices. Those who oppose Trump may see his dump from Twitter as a rejuvenation of their faith in the website. Hell, maybe it could be a profitable move that could bring back our sweet, sweet Vine.

The ball is in Dorsey and Twitter’s court. Soon enough, Trump will be getting the @POTUS handle to use. If Dorsey wants to make a statement, he has to do it before time runs out. And even if he doesn’t do it, because it’s technically the right thing to do considering all the harassment and hate Trump has word vomited onto Twitter, maybe Dorsey will do it for his own legacy.