Star Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo deleted his Twitter account, calling the social media platform a “disgrace” after the president was permanently banned from it two days following the Capitol riots.
Like many other outspoken Trump supporters, the 25-year-old DeAngelo said moving forward he would use Parler, an alternative platform popular among conservatives.
Google recently suspended Parler from its app store because of “continued posting in the Parler app that seeks to incite ongoing violence in the U.S.”
Head coach David Quinn said the Rangers spoke with DeAngelo about causing a stir on Twitter, but did not provide any additional information on the matter.
DeAngelo has drawn attention for his actions off the ice in the past.
The South Jersey native’s Twitter account was temporarily deactivated following Election Day, when DeAngelo faced backlash for tweeting, “What happened to ‘COVID-19’ the last 48 hours,” echoing Trump’s false claim that the media would only cover the pandemic until November in an effort to hurt his reelection chances.
A first-round draft pick in 2014, DeAngelo was suspended twice that year by the Ontario Hockey League — a top league for hockey prospects — for violating the league policy “to keep homophobic, racist and sexist language out of the game.”
While with the Coyotes in 2017, DeAngelo was suspended three games without pay after attempting to push away a referee following an on-ice scrum.
He was traded to the Rangers later that year, and in 2019 was suspended two games by the team for what Quinn called a “maturity issue.”
This past season, DeAngelo tallied an impressive 53 points in 68 games, but he often struggled defensively.
In the offseason he signed a two-year, $9.6 million contract extension, and will be leaned on heavily as the Rangers begin their season Thursday.







