Brandon Silverman (@brandonsilverm) header
Brandon Silverman (@brandonsilverm) profile picture

Former CEO & Co-Founder of CrowdTangle (acq. by Meta). Fan of transparency & dogs.

Joined February 2008
Photo by Brandon Silverman (@brandonsilverm)Photo by Brandon Silverman (@brandonsilverm)Photo by Brandon Silverman (@brandonsilverm)Photo by Brandon Silverman (@brandonsilverm)Photo by Brandon Silverman (@brandonsilverm)Photo by Brandon Silverman (@brandonsilverm)Photo by Brandon Silverman (@brandonsilverm)Photo by Brandon Silverman (@brandonsilverm)Photo by Brandon Silverman (@brandonsilverm)
This week, I had the chance to testify in front of a Senate hearing about platform transparency. As usual, @CaseyNewton covered it well here but I wanted to share some of the main points I talked about and a few other ones as well. theverge.com/2022/5/5/230581…
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Brandon Silverman retweeted
Yesterday, Rubio terminated 5800 USAID contracts – more than 90% of its foreign aid programs – in defiance of the courts. Here’s a list of just some of the lifesaving awards that were terminated. Nearly all were Congressional mandated. They've saved millions of lives. 🧵
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Presidents do not have to be saints, and we hope that a second term for Donald Trump would avoid disaster. But he poses an unacceptable risk to America and the world. If The Economist had a vote, we would cast it for Kamala Harris econ.st/3NKsH2r
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Brandon Silverman retweeted
trump closing argument just dropped
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So they’ll hate her. Because she can take it. Because she's not our hero. She's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. Provider of ice cream. A dark knight
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GDP growth at 2.8 percent, PCE inflation 1.5 percent. This puts a capstone on an incredibly successful response to the pandemic — even if many people won’t believe it bea.gov/news/2024/gross-dome…
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I don’t really do endorsements. I’m not shy about sharing my views, but I hate politics and don’t trust most politicians. I also understand that people want to hear from me because I am not just a celebrity, I am a former Republican Governor. My time as Governor taught me to love policy and ignore politics. I’m proud of the work I did to help clean up our air, create jobs, balance the budget, make the biggest infrastructure investment in state history, and take power from the politicians and give it back to the people when it comes to our redistricting process and our primaries in California. That’s policy. It requires working with the other side, not insulting them to win your next election, and I know it isn’t sexy to most people, but I love it when I can help make people’s lives better with policies, like I still do through my institute at USC, where we fight for clean air and stripping the power from the politicians who rig the system against the people. Let me be honest with you: I don’t like either party right now. My Republicans have forgotten the beauty of the free market, driven up deficits, and rejected election results. Democrats aren’t any better at dealing with deficits, and I worry about their local policies hurting our cities with increased crime. It is probably not a surprise that I hate politics more than ever, which, if you are a normal person who isn’t addicted to this crap, you probably understand. I want to tune out. But I can’t. Because rejecting the results of an election is as un-American as it gets. To someone like me who talks to people all over the world and still knows America is the shining city on a hill, calling America is a trash can for the world is so unpatriotic, it makes me furious. And I will always be an American before I am a Republican. That’s why, this week, I am voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. I’m sharing it with all of you because I think there are a lot of you who feel like I do. You don’t recognize our country. And you are right to be furious. For decades, we’ve talked about the national debt. For decades, we’ve talked about comprehensive immigration reform that secures the border while fixing our broken immigration system. And Washington does nothing. The problems just keep rolling, and we all keep getting angrier, because the only people that benefit from problems aren’t you, the people. The only people that benefit from this crap are the politicians who prefer having talking points to win elections to the public service that will make Americans’ lives better. It is a just game to them. But it is life for my fellow Americans. We should be pissed! But a candidate who won’t respect your vote unless it is for him, a candidate who will send his followers to storm the Capitol while he watches with a Diet Coke, a candidate who has shown no ability to work to pass any policy besides a tax cut that helped his donors and other rich people like me but helped no one else else, a candidate who thinks Americans who disagree with him are the bigger enemies than China, Russia, or North Korea - that won’t solve our problems. It will just be four more years of bullshit with no results that makes us angrier and angrier, more divided, and more hateful. We need to close the door on this chapter of American history, and I know that former President Trump won’t do that. He will divide, he will insult, he will find new ways to be more un-American than he already has been, and we, the people, will get nothing but more anger. That’s enough reason for me to share my vote with all of you. I want to move forward as a country, and even though I have plenty of disagreements with their platform, I think the only way to do that is with Harris and Walz. Vote this week. Turn the page and put this junk behind us. And even if you disagree with me, vote, because that’s what we do as Americans. vote.org
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Brandon Silverman retweeted
Not only did Biden not say the thing @JDVance is pretending to be mad about here, he and Trump actually say much worse about more than half of all Americans every single day. I hope no MSMers will pretend to believe this false outrage. A reminder below for those who play along.
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Brandon Silverman retweeted
🚨 KAMALA GOES FULL YIMBY 🚨 “For years we have heard excuses about why America can’t build enough housing. Enough with the excuses, I’m going to cut the red tape and work with the private sector and local governments to speed up building and get the job done.”
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Brandon Silverman retweeted
DSA opens new possibilities for the research community and we want to hear your voice: submit your contribution to the consultation on the draft delegated act on access to data by researchers - deadline 26 November!👇 digital-strategy.ec.europa.e…
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If you haven't decided yet who to vote for, here's why I think you should vote for Harris.
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“There’s a lot going on. I don’t know if you know this but there’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico”
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Brandon Silverman retweeted
Trump says the CHIPS and Science Act, which brings thousands of manufacturing jobs back to America, “is so bad” and says he wants to replace it with tariffs that will raise prices on the middle class
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President Trump, America's History Buff, explains to Joe Rogan that President Lincoln was very depressed because he lost his beloved son, Tad. Thomas "Tad" Lincoln died 6 years after Lincoln's death.
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Brandon Silverman retweeted
Focusing for a moment on the POLICIES at play. Voters were asked whether they supported 100 different policies, but weren't told whether the policy was from Trump or Harris. Nearly all of Harris' policies got majority support from the public, and... 🧵
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Brandon Silverman retweeted
One last data point. Trump's spent more than $29 MILLION on TV ads that reference Harris supporting gender affirming surgeries for the incarcerated. Only TWO inmates appear to have receives such surgeries
Astonishing data point in this @MarcACaputo piece "Since President Joe Biden left the race on July 21, Republicans have spent about $120 million on ads attacking their Democratic rivals over trans issues," thebulwark.com/p/trump-goes-…
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8. Trump's comments about Jeffrey Epstein in 2002:
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6. Trump brags about walking into the dressing room at his pageants before they begin while the girls are undressing to "inspect" it
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Brandon Silverman retweeted
I and twenty-two other Nobel economists signed a letter endorsing Kamala Harris for President. We believe Harris's policies will result in a stronger economic performance, with economic growth that is more robust, more sustainable, and more equitable. cnn.com/2024/10/23/politics/…
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