On Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump's official Twitter account began unblocking a select number of previously presidentially blocked users as part of a ruling against the president that said the practice was "unconstitutional."
Back in May, President Trump and his social media director Dan Scavino were ordered by U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald to "unblock" the accounts of the seven plaintiffs (in a lawsuit filed by the Knight First Amendment Institute (KFAI) at Columbia University) who had previously been blocked by the President on Twitter.
Advising him to use the "mute" function on Twitter instead, the federal judge said Trump's blocks were unconstitutional and called his Twitter feed "a public forum" as set forth in doctrines by the Supreme Court which:
...has been used in the course of the appointment of officers (including cabinet secretaries), the removal of officers and the conduct of foreign policy.
Among those who have been blocked by the President are author Stephen King, actor/comedian Rosie O'Donnell and model and cookbook author Chrissy Teigen
Earlier this month, KFAI asked the White House to unblock 41 more accounts. Now, at least some of those accounts have been unblocked.
And not a moment too soon for some...
But many others complained they still have not been released from Trump's Twitter jail yet:
And they wondered aloud how they, too, could get unblocked:
Still, the most interesting thing about this turn of events is that many of those who were previously blocked are now relishing in the joy of blocking Trump themselves:
No doubt this is what things look like over at White House right now:
The Justice Department announced in June that it would appeal the ruling and according to the Knight First Amendment Institute:
...filed its opening brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Aug. 7.
KFAI is now asking anyone who has been blocked from the President's Twitter account to contact them if they'd like to be unblocked.
@PreetBharara/X
@RepBrendanBoyle/X
@twesq/Bluesky
@christopherharris/Bluesky
@evangelinewarren/X
@FrankC164/X
AMC