New York GOP candidate Joey Saladino has filed a lawsuit against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for blocking him on Twitter, following a decision from the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals that President Donald Trump cannot block people on social media because it is a public forum.
Saladino, better known as “Joey Salads” online, filed the lawsuit in the Southern District of New York on Tuesday.
“We do conclude,” the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision regarding Trump’s account began, “that the First Amendment does not permit a public official who utilizes a social media account for all manner of official purposes to exclude persons from an otherwise‐open online dialogue because they expressed views with which the official disagrees.”
https://twitter.com/JoeySalads/status/1148654321896251394?s=20
Ocasio-Cortez blocked Saladino in May, shortly after he announced his candidacy, according to a press release from his campaign.
“I’m suing AOC because we need to be able to have a strong and vigorous debate between the parties, otherwise our fragile system of ideas and representation breaks down,” Saladino said. “Though she is not in a position of power, she is the voice of her generation of Democrat voters, and bigger than some of the Presidential candidates.”
Saladino posted a video of himself filing the lawsuit on his extremely popular YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjl9JDnkYZs&feature=youtu.be
“If we can’t talk to one another, the whole system breaks down.” Saladino continued. “Look what is happening in my district when entrenched NeverTrumpers are confronted by America First ideas. Like it or not we live in the same city and we need to be professional.”
The Staten Island native lists slowing economic opportunity for the area’s youth, ever increasing taxes, and the growing opioid addiction crisis as some of the top issues he will be addressing with his campaign. Prior to the start of his campaign, he was already well-known for his comedic videos running pranks on unsuspecting strangers.
Saladino is the first prominent YouTuber to run for office in the United States. He has nearly 2.5 million followers on YouTube and Facebook, as well as 82,000 on Twitter. According to a statement from his campaign, his work gets over one billion views on social media per year.
