They've been given protection, and they've abused that protection.
In the final weeks before the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump carried his campaign through Florida and Georgia with a message that reached beyond the ballot — framing the contest not merely as a choice between two men, but as a reckoning between ordinary citizens and the institutions he believed had conspired against them. Calling Joe Biden corrupt and unfit, and threatening to strip social media platforms of their legal protections, Trump cast himself as the last barrier between his supporters and what he described as an entrenched, coordinated establishment. It was a familiar posture for a leader who had always drawn power from the sensation of siege.
- With three weeks until Election Day, Trump escalated his attacks on Biden to criminal territory, citing newly surfaced emails as evidence of what he called a family-run enterprise built on corruption.
- The rallies crackled with grievance beyond Biden — Trump pointed to a suspended Twitter account and sympathetic media coverage as proof that free speech itself was under assault.
- He threatened to dismantle Section 230, the legal shield protecting social media companies from liability, framing it as a government gift that had been weaponized against him and his supporters.
- On the pandemic, Trump warned that Biden's lockdown instincts would strangle the economic recovery he claimed was already underway, positioning himself as the guardian of both health and prosperity.
- The closing argument was existential: supporters were told that a vote on November 3rd was not for a candidate but for the right of the American people to govern themselves against a hostile establishment.
Donald Trump arrived in Ocala, Florida and Macon, Georgia in mid-October 2020 carrying a message that the coming election was something larger than a contest between two candidates. Before thousands of supporters, he described Joe Biden as a disaster and an incompetent — someone he could not fathom losing to — and pointed to recently published documents as evidence of deep corruption, alleging the Biden family operated as a criminal enterprise that the press was actively concealing.
But Biden was almost a secondary target. Trump reserved some of his sharpest language for the media and technology companies he accused of coordinating against him, citing the suspension of a White House official's Twitter account as proof that free speech had effectively ceased to exist. He threatened to revoke Section 230 — the federal protection shielding social media platforms from legal liability — arguing that companies which accepted government shelter had no right to claim they were defending open expression.
On the economy and the pandemic, Trump drew a stark contrast, warning that Biden's approach would freeze the recovery and delay a vaccine, while his own plan would crush the virus without sacrificing the economic momentum he said was building. He revisited his early travel restrictions on China, accusing Biden of having called him xenophobic for the decision.
Throughout both rallies, Trump leaned into his identity as an outsider who did not speak like a politician and did not follow Washington's rules — and argued that was precisely the point. The message he left with supporters was unambiguous: the choice on November 3rd was not between two men, but between the American people and the institutions Trump said had spent years working against them.
Donald Trump arrived in two crucial swing states in mid-October 2020 with a message for his supporters: the election was not just about him and Joe Biden, but about something larger—a battle against what he saw as a coordinated effort by media and technology companies to undermine his campaign. Speaking to thousands in Ocala, Florida and Macon, Georgia, Trump painted his Democratic opponent as fundamentally unfit for office, calling him a "disaster" and an "incompetent" person he could not imagine losing to.
The centerpiece of Trump's attack was a claim of corruption. He pointed to documents and emails that had recently surfaced, published by The New York Post, as proof that Biden was corrupt. Trump went further, alleging that the Biden family operated as what he called a "criminal enterprise"—a charge he said the media and technology companies were actively covering up. He drew a comparison to Hillary Clinton, suggesting the Bidens made his 2016 opponent look like an amateur by contrast.
But Trump's grievance extended well beyond Biden himself. He argued that the real opponent was the alignment of left-leaning media outlets and major technology platforms, which he said had turned "totally crazy" in their opposition to him. He cited the temporary suspension of White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany's Twitter account as evidence that free speech no longer existed in America. "There's no freedom of press," he told supporters, framing the election as a referendum on these institutions.
Central to his argument was a threat aimed at the tech industry: he promised to revoke Section 230, the federal law that shields social media companies from legal liability for content posted on their platforms. Trump characterized this protection as an extraordinary gift from government—something no other industry received. "They've been given protection, and they've abused that protection," he said, arguing that by accepting government protection, these companies had forfeited any claim to be defending free speech. He positioned the removal of Section 230 as something his supporters could demand by voting for him on November 3rd.
On the pandemic and economic policy, Trump contrasted his approach with what he predicted Biden would do. He warned that Biden's "draconian unscientific lockdown" would derail economic recovery, delay vaccine development, and prolong the crisis. Trump claimed his own plan would "crush the virus" while preserving the economic boom he said was beginning. He also revisited his early travel restrictions on China, accusing Biden of calling him xenophobic for the move and then, Trump claimed, being unable to even define the term when pressed.
Throughout both rallies, Trump framed himself as an outsider fighting against entrenched power. He acknowledged that he did not sound like a typical politician and did not always play by Washington rules—but that, he argued, was precisely why he had been elected. The message to supporters was clear: a vote for Trump on November 3rd was not just a choice between two candidates, but a choice about who controlled the country—the American people or the institutions Trump said had conspired against them.
Citações Notáveis
Joe Biden is a disaster. Let's face it. I cannot think about losing to such an incompetent person.— Donald Trump, at rallies in Florida and Georgia
We're going to show them the American people are in charge by delivering Joe Biden a thundering defeat like they haven't seen before.— Donald Trump
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
When Trump says the media and tech companies are "siding with" Biden, what does he actually mean they're doing?
He's pointing to specific actions—like Twitter suspending his press secretary's account, and the suppression of stories he wanted amplified. But he's also making a broader claim: that these platforms are systematically disadvantaging him by moderating content, fact-checking his statements, or simply not promoting his message the way they might promote Biden's.
And Section 230—why does he keep coming back to that?
Because it's leverage. Section 230 is what lets Twitter and Facebook exist without being sued into oblivion for every post on their platforms. If you remove it, you fundamentally change their business model. Trump sees it as a way to punish them for what he sees as bias, and to force them to be more permissive of his content.
Is he saying the election itself is rigged, or something else?
Not exactly rigged in the voting sense. He's saying the playing field is tilted—that the institutions with the most power to shape public opinion are working against him. The election outcome, in his view, will be determined partly by whether voters can overcome that institutional bias.
What about the Biden corruption claims? How central are they to his argument?
They're the moral foundation. If Biden is corrupt, then everything else follows—the media covering it up makes sense, the tech companies protecting him makes sense. It justifies the whole framing of the election as a battle between him and the establishment.
Does he see himself as winning or losing going into November?
He's projecting confidence—talking about delivering Biden a "thundering defeat." But the fact that he's spending so much energy on the media and tech argument suggests he's worried about their influence. He wouldn't need to explain why they're powerful if he thought he was clearly winning.