Who Is Jesse Kelly? Iraq War Veteran Banned From Twitter, Sparking Conservative Backlash: 'A Complete Joke'

Twitter banned Iraq War veteran and former Republican congressional candidate Jesse Kelly, prompting backlash from conservatives, who blasted the social media website as politically biased and tyrannical, The Hill reported.

Twitter did not comment aon why Kelly, now a commentator, was banned when contacted by Newsweek.

"What the hell is this? Twitter is a complete joke. Just be honest and admit you're a corporate, in-kind donation to the Progressive movement and stop pretending you're a social media 'platform,'" author and conservative commentator Dan Bongino posted.

Some commenters cautioned conservatives applauding Kelly's removal from the platform, saying that others were not immune from being removed.

"I think that people on the Right who are cheering, or snarking with approval, over the banning of Jesse Kelly are engaging in deeply shortsighted behavior, and that the people who got him banned would just as soon put them up against the wall in a heartbeat too," wrote Decision Desk HQ's Jeffrey Blehar.

Kelly wrote about being banned in an article published Monday, saying he was banned for "literally no reason." He said his removal was symptomatic of America's shift to being a "nation of sensitive losers who care about words."

Twitter policy states the company will inform users what terms were violated when suspending an account.

"I had almost 80,000 followers and those poor people are now left aimlessly wandering the social media landscape in search of a greatness they'll never find again. Now, I don't really care because I'm just going to start a new account and it will be even better than my last one (if that's possible). This isn't about me. This is about what kind of country we have become and what kind of country we want to be," Kelly wrote, lamenting the loss of what he described as the old American man, who pursued manifest destiny and enlisted in the Marines after Pearl Harbor.

He noted the power of social media and wrote that major platforms were "completely run by Silicon Valley leftists who know the power they hold. And they are using that power."

After conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was suspended from Twitter in August, Kelly cautioned that more people would be banned from the platform. "You must understand the left thinks you are both equally vile. They just knew Jones was the weak member of the herd. They could pick him off as a test run. Next they're coming for you," he wrote. Jones was later permanently removed from the platform.

Kelly's ban from Twitter followed less than a week after right-wing provocateur and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer was removed from the platform, NBC News reported. Loomer said Twitter informed her she was banned for violating rules against hateful statements after she posted that Minnesota Representative-elect Ilhan Omar was "anti Jewish." Loomer's tweet, one of many that she had posted criticizing Omar and other prominent Muslim figures, said the incoming congresswoman was part of a faith in which "homosexuals are oppressed" and "women are abused."

Loomer said she did not violate the platform's policies. "Everything I said is 100 percent true and factual. It's not malicious, it's not mean, it's not hateful."