Rep. Nancy Mace slams former Twitter execs for censoring medical experts over COVID-19

At a Wednesday hearing of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) shared details about her own health complications from the COVID-19 vaccine and accused Twitter of censoring medical experts who raised doubts about the pandemic narrative.

The 45-year-old congresswoman said she experienced long-term effects from the vaccine, including asthma, tremors in her left hand, and occasional heart problems that doctors have been unable to explain.

“I, along with many Americans, have long-term effects from COVID,” Mace said. “Not only was I a long-hauler, but I have effects from the vaccine. It wasn’t the first shot but it was a second shot.”

Mace expressed regret for getting the shot and noted she is not alone in her concerns. To buttress her argument, Mace cited the Twitter Files, internal deliberations within the social media giant that have revealed censorship of medical experts. She used Stanford's Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who tweeted an article on natural immunity, as one example.

Todays @GOPoversight hearing puts @twitter execs in the hot seat. Twitter has basically been a subsidiary of the FBI and other government agencies who successfully censored voices they disagreed with. Just cause. pic.twitter.com/KtTMzFHf0w

— Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) February 8, 2023

Mace also pointed to a tweet from Harvard Medical School professor Martin Kulldorff about natural immunity among children that was flagged for misinformation. Even when an account with 18,000 followers shared data from the CDC, Mace said its tweet received a “misleading” label.

“I find it extremely alarming Twitter’s unfettered censorship spread into medical fields and affected millions of Americans by suppressing expert opinions from doctors and censoring those who disagree with the CDC,” Mace said.

“I have great regrets about getting the shot because of the health issues that I now have that I don’t think are ever going to go away,” she added. “And I know that I’m not the only American who has those kinds of concerns.”

Vijaya Gadde, Twitter's former Chief Legal Officer and a witness at the hearing, said the company enacted COVID policies meant to “protect individuals.” But Mace questioned Gadde's level of medical expertise and concluded Twitter had “worked overtime to suppress accurate COVID information.”