TAMPA, Fla. – Facebook has censored, restricted and blocked a qualified Republican Congressional candidate in Florida from advertising just weeks before the 2024 primary election. The election interference comes just months after Facebook made a contribution to the candidate’s opponent, according to FEC reports.
Late last week, James Judge, the Christian, America-first, Iraq war veteran and Tampa Bay area native running for Congress in Florida’s 15th Congressional District had his Facebook account with nearly 24,000 followers restricted for a post he shared back on May 17.
The post, which caused Facebook to censor and impose account restrictions against Judge, was a meme that had been shared by conservative political commentator Benny Johnson. The meme included a public photo of President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, wearing aviator sunglasses, a red scarf and men’s briefs. The newsworthy image has been featured repeatedly throughout the mainstream media and can still be seen online at the New York Post.
Despite the newsworthiness and the photo already being in the public domain, Facebook insists Judge participated in “adult sexual exploitation” and violated their community guidelines by sharing the meme.
Not only did Facebook censor Judge’s account by removing the image and deleting the post, but they restricted Judge’s account by blocking his ability to create live videos, participate in live calls and create advertisements just weeks before voting is set to begin.
That’s not all. The social media giant has also blocked Judge’s ability to invite people to like his page until March 24, 2025.
According to Facebook, the harsh penalties were due to this being Judge’s second strike. On March 21, Facebook warned Judge after he shared a NY Post video of migrants storming the U.S. border, tearing down an international border boundary and assaulting members of the Texas National Guard.
In that post, and based on his own experience as a military service member, Judge said that the violent aggressors should have been shot as a consequence of violating the law and due to the immediate threat they posed and physical harm they caused to the armed service members.
Facebook removed that post, as well, and warned Judge for “inciting violence.”
“This is precisely why I am running,” Judge said. “What I said was factually accurate. When I served in Iraq, we guarded the two main oil terminals off of the coast of Iraq. If people charged past the warning zone, and entered the exclusion zone, we were authorized to use destructive fire. To put this in perspective, we were authorized to kill anyone to protect two pieces of infrastructure in a foreign country. The current administration is saying American citizens and America’s border are not as important as two pieces of infrastructure in Iraq.”
Judge continued.
“In this country we have laws, and if you violate them, every law comes with the threat of violence. Apparently, in a nation where we are guaranteed freedom of speech as a right from God, we’re apparently no longer allowed to make plain, factual statements, like violating the law comes with a threat of violence.”
According to FEC reports, Facebook has donated generously to Judge’s opponent, Rep. Laurel Lee (R-FL). While still in her first term, Judge says Lee has quickly become known for infringing on the rights of Americans after she sponsored legislation to keep the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance ACT (FISA), which continues to allow warrantless spying on Americans.
This isn’t the first time Lee has accepted money from Facebook or its founder Mark Zuckerberg. As Secretary of State, Lee admitted during a House Public Integrity & Elections Committee hearing to taking and using $200,000 to influence Florida elections. That money came from the Center for Tech and Civic Life, an organization funded by $350 million from Zuckerberg.
“This is concerning, not only because Facebook has been arbitrarily banning conservatives from their platform for about eight years now, but because Laurel Lee has a history of taking their money and being influenced by it,” Judge said. “If she truly believes in free speech, not only should she return Facebook’s donations immediately, she should draft legislation to end Big Tech censorship. I’m betting that as usual, she’ll do nothing.”
About James Judge:
James Judge, a Florida native, graduated from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg and served in the U.S. Coast Guard in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Additionally, he served in Kabul, Afghanistan as a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defense from 2010 until 2011. He now owns Judge Public Relations, a Tampa-based public relations, marketing and consulting firm. Judge is married to his wife Danielle, who is also a small business owner. The Judges live on a ranch in Dade City, with their five dogs, three cats, chickens, cows, goats and horses. Judge is a proud member of the NRA, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion. The Judges are also longtime, active members at Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz.
Judge has been endorsed by:
- The National Republican Liberty Caucus
- Lake Wales Mayor Jack Hilligoss, who is also the pastor of HighPoint Church in Lake Wales
- Roger Stone, a top advisor and friend to President Donald J. Trump
- Former Congressman Steve King (R-IA)
- Former Congressman Ted Yoho (R-FL)
- Tampa’s conservative grassroots group Community Patriots
- Born to Ride for 45, a national motorcycle riding club with 6,000 members
For media-related inquiries, please contact the campaign’s PR firm or by emailing info@judgeforcongress.com.