The big Sussex story this week is Prince Harry and Meghan volunteering in the LA/Pasadena/Altadena areas, and being called “disaster tourists” by unhinged Justine Bateman. It actually flew somewhat under the radar in American and British reporting that the Sussexes also released a scathing statement about the social media company Meta this week too. Last week, Meta announced a new policy: no more fact-checking on Facebook or Instagram, a free-for-all for political disinformation, bad science and more. Meta and Mark Zuckerberg were widely condemned by media analysts, politicians and even President Biden, who called the move “shameful.” The Sussexes didn’t even rush their statement out – they waited something like five or six days to issue a comprehensive statement about the larger issues involved with social media and mental health.

Well, because everything is awful, Heritage Foundation’s Nile Gardiner – a complete lunatic who has been obsessed with the Sussexes for years – has been trying to make a meal out of the Sussexes’ Meta statement. Gardiner is twisting himself in knots to claim that “members of the British royal family are interfering in American politics and that’s why Harry should be deported!” Jesus Christ.

A prominent member of the pro-Trump think tank behind Project 2025 said he will personally urge Donald Trump to deport Prince Harry if he lied on immigration papers, after he and wife Meghan Markle launched a withering attack on Meta for abandoning its fact-checking program.

Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom and Bernard and Barbara Lomas Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Beast that the whole issue of fact-checking at the social media giant is a “deeply political matter.” So it is “hugely inappropriate,” he said, for individuals styling themselves with the royal titles “Duke and Duchess of Sussex” to intervene in a “hot-button political topic.”

Gardiner told The Daily Beast the statement was “a clear intervention on a deeply political matter, specifically the contentious issue of censorship on social media in the United States. This is a hot-button political topic, particularly in the current climate.”

He said that while he accepted that the couple are no longer working royals, they remain “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex” and are putting their royal connections and titles “front and center” to “actively advance their causes.”

The Heritage Foundation has been accused of spending millions to block voting rights in the United States, and taking anti-LGBTQ positions, such as opposing gay marriage. The think tank is, however, hugely influential in conservative circles, and according to some reports, it has helped vet candidates for top jobs in the new administration.

Gardiner added: “For members of the royal family to engage in such overtly political matters is, quite frankly, highly inappropriate. It goes against royal protocol. Their use of these titles to further their personal and political agendas makes a mockery of the royal family’s customary neutrality. Their statement wasn’t a moderate call for dialogue or understanding; it was an outright political rant.” Gardiner said he believed the “poorly timed intervention” would “backfire” and intensify “public interest in their political activities” and stoke demands for Prince Harry’s immigration records to be released.

Gardiner told The Daily Beast: “On the issue of Harry’s immigration status in the United States, I believe that if he was dishonest on his application, he should be deported. It’s a straightforward matter of transparency, accountability, and the equal application of the rule of law. Everyone applying to enter or reside in the United States should be treated the same, without exception. The public has a right to know the truth, and there is a significant public interest in the release of his immigration records.”

Gardiner said: “I am confident that these records will eventually be released, likely under the new U.S. administration. President-elect Donald Trump has already expressed displeasure at Harry’s treatment of the queen and the royal family, and has the authority to order the release of these documents. I met with Donald Trump on a number of occasions at the White House during his first presidency, and if I have the opportunity to meet him again I will strongly recommend the release of Harry’s immigration records. I believe it is only a matter of time before they are released to the American people.”

[From The Daily Beast]

The Sussexes have been working in the fields of social-media watchdog/media critic/mental-health advocacy for years now, but this sh-tfit comes right after Zuckerberg makes huge, overt moves to endear himself and his company to Donald Trump and the incoming Trump administration. The Sussexes were right to issue a statement about Meta – it’s directly in their wheelhouse, and it’s about work they’ve been engaged with for years. And now Heritage is using the statement as yet another excuse to scream about their titles and deportation.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.