In nod to Big Tech, Congress overrides Trump veto

FPI / January 3, 2021

Congress delivered a rebuke to President Trump during a rare New Year's Day session, handing him his first veto override.

The GOP-controlled Senate voted 81-13 to override the president’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which greenlights spending levels and lays out policy for the Pentagon.

It marked in effect a stunning vote of support for the social media giants that have been credited with interfering in the 2020 presidential election by effectively censoring public awareness of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal.

“Our Republican Senate just missed the opportunity to get rid of Section 230, which gives unlimited power to Big Tech companies,” the president stated in a Twitter post.

Trump vetoed the NDAA on Dec. 23 for a number of reasons, including wasteful spending overseas and because the bill failed to remove Section 230 — the liability shield that protects social media companies.

In October, the New York Post first reported on the contents of Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop which showed his global financial dealings, including with communist China. A business partner of Hunter Biden also revealed that Joe Biden was involved.

The Media Research Center commissioned a poll by McLaughlin & Associates which showed that 36 percent of Biden voters were not aware of Hunter Biden’s scandal and that 13 percent of those said they would not have voted for the former vice president if they had known.

The White House also criticized the bill for including measures that would strip military bases of names honoring Confederate military leaders and regulate troop withdrawals he has sought in Afghanistan and Germany.

On Friday, only seven of the Senate's 52 GOP senators voted to uphold Trump's veto: Mike Braun (Ind.), Tom Cotton (Ark.), Ted Cruz (Texas), Josh Hawley (Mo.), John Kennedy (La.), Mike Lee (Utah) and Rand Paul (Ky.)

Free Press International