Trump accuses social media companies of ‘terrible bias’ at White House summit decried by critics

President Trump assailed Facebook, Google and Twitter on Thursday — accusing them of exhibiting “terrible bias” and silencing his supporters — at a White House “Social Media Summit” that critics chastised for giving a prominent stage to some of the Internet’s most controversial, incendiary voices.

For Trump, the conference represented his highest-profile broadside against Silicon Valley after months of accusations that tech giants censor conservative users and websites. With it, the president also rallied his widely followed online allies — whom he described as “journalists and influencers” and who together can reach roughly half a billion people — entering the 2020 presidential election.

“Some of you are extraordinary. The crap you think of is unbelievable,” Trump said.

Trump delivered his diatribe against Facebook, Google and Twitter — charges of political bias that all three companies long have denied — at an event at the White House featuring Republican lawmakers, GOP campaign strategists and social media meme-makers, a move that led some critics to express dismay that the president aimed to use the policy summit as a reelection push.