OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk made an unannounced visit to Capitol Hill last week which became notable not for who he met with but, rather, for who he didn’t.
According to Politico, the Twitter boss made the rounds with several Republican leaders but did not take the time to meet with any Democrats, which apparently ruffled some feathers. The outlet noted: “Elon Musk’s whirlwind Washington trip left off Democrats from his calling card, but the minority party still wants to hear from him.”
“Elon Musk’s unannounced, whirlwind tour of Capitol Hill last week had a number of high-profile stops: A happy birthday visit to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and a sit-down with GOP firebrand Rep. Jim Jordan, among others,” the report continued. “He even met with White House officials to talk about electric cars. One thing it didn’t include: Congressional Democrats. In Congress, all his scheduled meetings were with Republicans. An encounter with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries — the House minority leader — that he touted in a tweet, was actually an unscheduled run-in, according to Jeffries’ office.”
Just met with @SpeakerMcCarthy & @RepJeffries to discuss ensuring that this platform is fair to both parties
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 26, 2023
A Jeffries aide dismissed there was any kind of scheduled meeting among McCarthy, Jeffries and Musk.
It was a run-in after a different meeting. https://t.co/wnRQGwt112
— Sarah Ferris (@sarahnferris) January 27, 2023
The shunning of Democrats comes after leftists attacked Musk for his “free speech” changes to the platform and after months of indicating he was leaning more towards Republicans and would vote that way during the November midterms.
“Twitter didn’t reply when asked why Musk didn’t schedule meetings with the minority party in the House,” Politico reported.
Nevertheless, the outlet continued, Democrats “still want to hear” from Musk, “even as they don’t put much faith in their Republican colleagues to hold him accountable.”
“I think it’s seriously a mistake and I think it would be a good thing to have him come in and explain himself,” Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) told Politico.
It’s not clear what that means, but Democrats did not seem to want to hear from Musk, either, when they were in charge of both chambers of Congress.
Last fall, Musk tore into Democrats after a few appeared to threaten him with investigations after he took over the social media platform. He went after those who he described as “major Democrat politicians” for “coordinated” attacks against him.
Musk responded on Twitter to a tweet from user Jason Debolt, who pointed out how Democrat lawmakers have recently begun to attack Musk, noting that the billionaire had not inserted himself into political debates and issues beforehand.
“Elon wasn’t super political on Twitter until Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren started attacking him for no reason. Then others followed. Of all the dudes they could have attacked, they chose the guy most capable of helping government solve problems. Strange choice,” Debolt tweeted.
Musk agreed and suggested that those Democrats were just “actors on the political stage.”
“Several other major Democrat politicians attacked me too, all around the same time. It was coordinated. Outside of party leadership and independents like Manchin, they are essentially actors on the political stage, not directors or script writers,” Musk tweeted.
Senate Democrats have since threatened investigations into Musk’s purchase of Twitter, while the Biden White House has also said the administration will be monitoring how the platform functions as well.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) called on the administration to look into Musk’s acquisition on Nov. 1, suggesting that Saudi Arabia has undue influence on the platform. And Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) has also threatened to push new regulations for Twitter after Musk failed to respond to a letter he sent regarding user verification.
Musk responded by trolling Dems over the party’s refusal to look into the burgeoning scandal involving crypto exchange FTX and its CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, after tens of billions in losses.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also recently told reporters that the administration is keeping “an eye” on Twitter and Musk.
The Twitter boss has also tweaked Democrats by openly supporting Republicans. Last month, he joined former President Donald Trump in stumping for McCarthy (R-Calif.) to become Speaker.
“Kevin McCarthy should be Speaker,” the Twitter CEO said in a tweet. “Subtle, but I am beginning to suspect opinions differ on this matter … If not McCarthy, then seriously who?” he added in another tweet.
