Republican presidential candidates took aim at fellow 2024 hopeful Nikki Haley over her proposal to mandate social media user authentication on Tuesday.
Haley suggested on Fox News that social media companies should be banned from allowing users to create anonymous accounts. Haley claimed this would control “bots” from Russia, Iran, and China. (RELATED: Farewell, Catturd? Nikki Haley Proposes Ban On Anonymous Social Media Accounts)
Fellow GOP candidates Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis took to Twitter to voice their disapproval of Haley’s proposal.
Ramaswamy invoked the Founding Fathers to outline why he found Haley’s potential social media user verification plan unacceptable.
“Alexander Hamilton, John Jay & James Madison wrote the Federalist Papers under pseudonym. Here’s what they would say to @NikkiHaley if they were alive: get your heels off my neck & go back to England,” Ramaswamy tweeted.
DeSantis later pointed out that the Founding Fathers penned the the Federalist Papers under pseudonyms. The Florida governor also argued that many conservatives post anonymously to share their opinions without fear of retribution.
“You know who were anonymous writers back in the day? Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison when they wrote the Federalist Papers,” DeSantis tweeted.
You know who were anonymous writers back in the day? Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison when they wrote the Federalist Papers.
They were not “national security threats,” nor are the many conservative Americans across the country who exercise their Constitutional… https://t.co/YkAGMhUVCX
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) November 15, 2023
“They were not ‘national security threats,’ nor are the many conservative Americans across the country who exercise their Constitutional right to voice their opinions without fear of being harassed or canceled by the school they go to or the company they work for,” DeSantis continued.
“Haley’s proposal to ban anonymous speech online — similar to what China recently did — is dangerous and unconstitutional. It will be dead on arrival in my administration,” DeSantis added.
Earlier this month, the GOP primary candidates exchanged barbs in a fiery debate in Miami. Ramaswamy took hits at both DeSantis and Haley. Haley responded, calling him “scum” over referencing her daughter’s TikTok use.