Only jerks are invited to Trump social media summit

Technology companies are on Donald Trump's shit list. During a Fox Business interview last week, Trump said Google wants to rig the upcoming election.

"So who does Trump invite to his social media confab?" tweets the Washington Post's Mark Seibel.
"
"James O'Keefe, who once tried to entrap Post reporters with a fake story about Roy Moore (apparently forgetting we actually confirm what we hear)."

Facebook won't be attending the Trump White House technology summit.

Google won't be there.

Twitter won't be there.

But noted white supremacist Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) plans to, along with others from the Republican Party of Florida.

And there are more racists, grifters, and kooks on the invite list. Like this guy.

Honored to be invited to the White House! Thank You Mr. President! @realDonaldTrump #SocialMediaSummit pic.twitter.com/8b6zIa2XN3

- GrrrGraphics Cartoons (@GrrrGraphics) July 5, 2019

More at the Washington Post from Tony Romm, Michael Scherer, and Amy Wang:

Among the expected attendees are James O'Keefe, the founder of Project Veritas, which has released secretly recorded videos of subjects, including a Google executive, in an attempt to paint them as politically biased. Another invitee, Ben Garrison, has published cartoons that have drawn sharp rebukes from the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center for including hateful text and imagery. O'Keefe confirmed his attendance and defended his tactics this week. Garrison, who tweeted a copy of his invite, did not respond to a request for comment.

Announced in June, Trump's summit comes the same week that a federal judge ruled that Trump is prohibited by the First Amendment from blocking critics from his Twitter feed. Last month, Twitter said it would begin labeling tweets from Trump that violate its policies but are allowed to stay on the site because he is a national political figure.

In a statement, White House spokesman Judd Deere said the administration opted to convene the event after hearing from "thousands" of Americans across the political spectrum that they had been affected by bias online. He said Trump "wants to engage directly with these digital leaders in a discussion on the power of social media," but declined to provide a full list of attendees.

Read more:
Trump looks to rally controversial online allies at White House social media summit

PHOTO, top: President Donald J. Trump speaks to reporters Sunday, July 7, 2019, as he prepares to board Air Force One at the Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, N.J., for his return to Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead, modified to include Pedobear by Xeni)

why does james o'keefe look like he's about to tell me to call 1-800-411-PAIN pic.twitter.com/dTK0Qnng3u

- Natalie Martinez (@natijomartinez) July 9, 2019