Buckeye Reporter

Republican Ohio gubernatorial candidate Jim Renacci is upset that YouTube censored Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul over his comments about the COVID-19 vaccine.

"If Mike DeWine and the Democrats are going to push vaccines on our youngest children, then Ohio parents have the right to access all the information available,” Renacci said. “Rand Paul is a senator. He is also a doctor. Google has no excuse to censor his opinion from YouTube other than to reinforce the agenda of Dr. Fauci and the public health bureaucrats who have misled us for so long."

He blamed Ohio's governor for allowing such silencing of conservative opinions to go on.

"Mike DeWine has had plenty of time to take action against Big Tech's censorship regime against conservatives," Renacci said. "Instead he's done what he usually does when it comes to an issue Trump supporters care about - nothing."

He vowed to move aggressively to put a stop to First Amendment infringement online.

“As governor, I will work with the state legislature to create a 'zero tolerance' policy in Ohio toward Big Tech that protects the right of all Ohioans from political censorship by the left-wing elites that run these companies," Renacci said. "Google, Facebook and Twitter, take notice: if you go after Ohioans' rights to free speech while I'm governor and try to censor information they need, there will be hell to pay."

Paul, who is a former ophthalmologist, recently spoke with Outkick founder Clay Travis and stated that it was important to weigh the risks of COVID-19 for children versus the risks of the vaccines on a video that was posted to YouTube, according to Renacci's release.

The Hill reported that the video with Travis and Paul was blocked on Jan. 24. It was still available on Rumble. 

"I believe the coronavirus is overrated and we are overreacting to it because it is a new and novel fear," Travis tweeted in February 2020. "The flu happens every year and affects far more people than the coronavirus does."

The Centers for Disease Control reported that from September 2020 to May 2021, which is considered influenza season in America, 1,675 (0.2%) of 818,939 respiratory specimens were positive for an influenza virus with only one child death.

Paul is not the first politician to have his account suspended by YouTube, as the company suspended Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin for a week in November after posting a video claiming that the COVID-19 vaccine wasn't safe, according to The Hill.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill last year barring social media companies from banning politicians from their platforms. The companies could be fined as much as $250,000 per day if they do so, according to The Hill.

Renacci, 63, once owned the Columbus Destroyers Arena Football Team. He became a member of U.S. Congress in 2010 as part of the Tea Party movement and endorsed Donald Trump over then-Ohio Gov. John Kasich in the 2016 primary for president, according to his site.

Renacci will face incumbent DeWine in the May 3 GOP gubernatorial primary according to BallotPedia, with the winner to be on the ballot for the general election on Nov. 8.