Lindsey Graham's call for assassination puts Twitter in awkward position after banning Trump

Two days after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Twitter permanently suspended Donald Trump's account "due to the risk of further incitement of violence."

The company's purported ban on threats of violence was called into question on Thursday after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) encouraged Russians to assassinate Vladimir Putin.

"Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military? The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out. You would be doing your country - and the world - a great service," Graham, a former military prosecutor, tweeted.

Other Twitter users noted the social media company's terms of service say, "You may not threaten violence against an individual or a group of people. We also prohibit the glorification of violence."

Here's some of what people are saying about the choices facing Twitter:

Lindsey Graham is definitely testing the bounds of Twitter's terms of service here.\n\nIf the senator's tweet isn't marked / removed, should citizens of nations be led to understand that Twitter's new policy is that suggesting people "take out" heads of state is allowed?https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/1499574209567199235\u00a0\u2026

— Ford Fischer (@Ford Fischer) 1646362799

Isn't calling for someone to be murdered a violation of the Twitter TOS?https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/1499574209567199235\u00a0\u2026

— Machine Pun Kelly \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Machine Pun Kelly \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1646365495

I have reached out to Twitter to see whether they plan on taking any action on Lindsey Graham's tweet calling for the assassination of Vladimir Putin and if it violates the platform's rules.https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/1499574209567199235\u00a0\u2026

— Justin Baragona (@Justin Baragona) 1646365118

Others had larger issue's with Graham's message.

Are you TRYING to cause escalation? Now Putin can say \u201cone of the most senior U.S. Senators has called for my assassination.\u201d Why would you want to help him? \n\nThis war is causing some who know better to lose their minds.https://twitter.com/lindseygrahamsc/status/1499574209567199235\u00a0\u2026

— Norm Eisen (@Norm Eisen) 1646363272

Irresponsible for a sitting US Senator to be outright calling for assassination, regardless of how evil Putin is. Not to mention the added propaganda fuel this gives the Putin side.https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/1499574209567199235\u00a0\u2026

— Nick Barnets (@Nick Barnets) 1646364729

is this dude drunk tweeting?https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/1499574209567199235\u00a0\u2026

— Luke Rudkowski (@Luke Rudkowski) 1646362620

Lindsey, when we talk about "Republicans saying the quiet part out loud" it usually just refers to the racism.https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/1499574209567199235\u00a0\u2026

— John Fugelsang (@John Fugelsang) 1646366434

Where are other members of Congress and why aren't they denouncing both Graham and this statement?https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/1499574209567199235\u00a0\u2026

— Jeff Carlson (@Jeff Carlson) 1646363636

He's right, but there are some things a US Senator shouldn't say out loud. Or, for that matter, things that the US government shouldn't have its fingerprints on.https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/1499574209567199235\u00a0\u2026

— Dan McLaughlin (@Dan McLaughlin) 1646366549

recommend you re-read JULIUS CAESAR to see how things turn out for Brutus and Romehttps://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/1499574209567199235\u00a0\u2026

— Jason Linkins (@Jason Linkins) 1646365437

One example ended badly for Rome (civil war) and the other failed. So even on the level of advice, seems bad, leaving all else out it.https://twitter.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/1499574209567199235\u00a0\u2026

— Jeet Heer (@Jeet Heer) 1646365729