Twitter not invited to Trump tech meeting as payback for derogatory Hillary emoji blocking

By Ali Breland - 12/14/16 03:44 PM EST

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was not invited to Donald Trump’s summit with major tech leaders Wednesday in retaliation for reneging on a $5 million emoji deal with the president-elect during the campaign, said a source with knowledge of the matter.

Sean Spicer, the Republican National Committee’s chief strategist and communications director, bounced Twitter from the meeting as payback for the failed deal, according to the source familiar with the situation.

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Dorsey tabled the emoji deal, claiming that custom Twitter emojis the Trump campaign intended to use in tweets would cause legal problems, the Washington Examiner reported in October.

One of the disputed emojis included the hashtag #CROOKEDHILLARY followed by a bag of money. Twitter reportedly said the emojis did not provide enough transparency to make clear they were from the Trump campaign.

The Trump campaign had intended to use the emojis around the Oct. 9 presidential debate with Hillary Clinton.

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