"Trump's Controversial Defense of Convicted Influencer with Racist Past"

Former President Donald Trump and his son, Donald Trump Jr., have defended Douglass Mackey, a former social media influencer who was convicted of election interference and has a history of promoting racist, antisemitic, anti-Muslim, and homophobic content online. Trump accused President Joe Biden of trampling on First Amendment rights by seeking to jail Mackey for sharing a meme about Hillary Clinton. Mackey, known as "Ricky Vaughn" on Twitter, targeted Black voters with false information during the 2016 election. Despite Mackey's conviction, some conservatives, including Trump Jr., have supported him, claiming that the government is suppressing free speech. Critics argue that Mackey's promotion of hate speech is concerning and that Trump's defense of him is disgraceful.