Jewish Professor Sues Trump For Blocking Him On Twitter

By Sam Kestenbaum July 11, 2017

A Jewish professor of sociology is among the seven individuals suing President Trump and his communication teams, alleging that they’re violating the Constitution by blocking people on Twitter.

Philip N. Cohen, a 49-year-old professor at the University of Maryland, was blocked by the @realDonaldTrump account after responding to Trump on Twitter last summer and calling him a “Corrupt Incompetent Authoritarian,” according to the complaint filed in New York today.

See you in court, Mr. President (about that Twitter account blocking) https://t.co/E0oxrp6uQ2 pic.twitter.com/pTlnTHOdTI

— Philip N Cohen (@familyunequal) July 11, 2017

In June 6, 2016, Cohen replied to a Trump tweet about air traffic control with a tweet of a photo of Trump. “Corrupt Incompetent Authoritarian. And then there are the policies. Resist,” Cohen wrote.

The tweet received 307 likes and 35 retweets.

About 15 minutes later, Cohen found that he had been blocked by the @realDonaldTrump account, meaning he cannot see any of the president’s Tweets.

Contact Sam Kestenbaum at kestenbaum@forward.com or on Twitter,@skestenbaum

Sam Kestenbaum is a contributing editor and former staff writer for the Forward. Before this, he worked for The New York Times and newsrooms in Sana, Ramallah and Beijing. Contact him at kestenbaum@forward.com and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum and on Instagram at @skestenbaum.