Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., is standing by the photo of him and his wife hunting that reportedly got him suspended from Twitter Monday night, as #FreeSteveDaines began to gain popularity among conservatives on social media.
“My wife is a great shot. What can I say?” Daines told Fox News Digital.
“The Senator thinks it’s preposterous that a picture of him and his wife hunting — an activity that is engrained in the Montana way of life — would be against Twitter rules. Our team has reached out to Twitter, and we’ll be working to get this resolved,” Rachel Dumke, press secretary for Daines, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
The senator from the Big Sky State was suspended from the media outlet Monday evening, over a photo of him and his wife next to a Montana antelope that according to Twitter violated the platform’s “rules against graphic violence.”
Daines was banned for using a photo of him and his wife hunting as his Twitter profile picture. (Senator Steve Daines)
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which Daines, released a statement blasting the move by Twitter.
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“This is insane. Twitter should immediately reverse this suspension,” said NRSC spokesman Philip Letsou.
Other members of Congress are speaking out against Twitter’s actions, saying the platform should not censor individuals just because they don’t agree with a post.
“Ridiculous. My friend @SteveDaines is in @Twitter jail for posting this pic w/ his wife Cindy. If you don’t like hunting, fine, don’t go. But don’t censor others who disagree. And I’m pretty sure this is a formal job responsibility for a senator from Montana!” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas., wrote in a post using the #FreeSteveDaines tag.
“@SteveDaines told me he was aiming for the balloon, but hit an antelope instead,” Cruz said in another tweet.
Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., also defended his fellow Montana politician, congratulating the senator’s wife on her “great shot.”
“This is the family photo that got @SteveDaines put in twitter jail. Stop censoring our Montana way of life! Great shot, Cindy!” Zinke wrote.
Twitter’s sensitive media policy states that certain images may be subject to removal, including pictures or video “that depicts excessively graphic or gruesome content related to death,” including “animal torture or killing.” The guidelines also state that exceptions to the policy may include “religious sacrifice, food preparation or processing, and hunting.”
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Twitter did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the suspension.
