OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Elon Musk has given his stamp of approval for one Republican candidate in the next presidential election as he tore into the administration of President Joe Biden.
It started when Tim Young shared a story and captioned it “It’s been a week since @elonmusk brought Trump back… and without him even tweeting once… The left can’t handle it.”
That set off a firestorm of tweets by Musk who opined on the former president not tweeting and on who he would vote for in 2024.
“I’m fine with Trump not tweeting. The important thing is that Twitter correct a grave mistake in banning his account, despite no violation of the law or terms of service. Deplatforming a sitting President undermined public trust in Twitter for half of America,” he said.
I’m fine with Trump not tweeting. The important thing is that Twitter correct a grave mistake in banning his account, despite no violation of the law or terms of service.
Deplatforming a sitting President undermined public trust in Twitter for half of America.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2022
“As a reminder, I was a significant supporter of the Obama-Biden presidency and (reluctantly) voted for Biden over Trump.
“But freedom of speech is the bedrock of a strong democracy and must take precedence. My preference for the 2024 presidency is someone sensible and centrist. I had hoped that would the case for the Biden administration, but have been disappointed so far,” he said.
But freedom of speech is the bedrock of a strong democracy and must take precedence.
My preference for the 2024 presidency is someone sensible and centrist. I had hoped that would the case for the Biden administration, but have been disappointed so far.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 26, 2022
In another tweet a Twitter user said “Would you support Ron DeSantis in 2024, Elon?” to which Musk responded “Yes” and that sent DeSantis’ name straight to the trending topics on Twitter.
Yes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 26, 2022
“But Twitter as a platform must be fair to all,” he said.
But Twitter as a platform must be fair to all
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 26, 2022
And it was not the first time this week that Musk made headlines.
The Twitter CEO is not taking any prisoners in who he shreds as the new owner of the microblogging website.
This time he tore into The Associated Press after it published a disparaging story about him and then shared it on his platform.
“New Twitter owner Elon Musk said he is granting ‘amnesty’ for suspended accounts, which online safety experts predict will spur a rise in harassment, hate speech and misinformation,” it said on Twitter.
New Twitter owner Elon Musk said he is granting "amnesty” for suspended accounts, which online safety experts predict will spur a rise in harassment, hate speech and misinformation. https://t.co/aZ0NyUP7Fp
— The Associated Press (@AP) November 24, 2022
The Associated Press reported.
On Oct. 28, the day after he took control, Musk tweeted that no suspended accounts would be reinstated until Twitter formed a “content moderation council” with diverse viewpoints that would consider the cases.
On Tuesday, he said he was reneging on that promise because he’d agreed to at the insistence of “a large coalition of political-social activists groups” who later ”broke the deal” by urging that advertisers at least temporarily stop giving Twitter their business.
A day earlier, Twitter reinstated the personal account of far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, which was banned in January for violating the platform’s COVID misinformation policies.
Musk, meanwhile, has been getting increasingly chummy on Twitter with right-wing figures. Before this month’s U.S. midterm elections he urged “independent-minded” people to vote Republican.
“AP is such an expert in misinformation. Twitter couldn’t hope to compete!” the CEO said.
“But you have piqued my curiosity … who are these ‘online experts’ you speak of?” he said.
But you have piqued my curiosity … who are these “online experts” you speak of?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 25, 2022
Musk provided a major update on the status of the platform this week that is not likely to sit well with everyone.
Musk noted on Monday that the number of users for the day rose by 1.6 million on Monday, a new high since he acquired the social media giant earlier this fall in a $44 billion purchase.
Twitter added 1.6M daily active users this past week, another all-time high pic.twitter.com/Si3cRYnvyD
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 22, 2022
It’s only been weeks since Musk took over Twitter. What’s more, he has since trimmed the company’s workforce by more than 50 percent in his quest to make the company profitable for a change.
Musk’s update runs counter to prognostications on the left about Twitter’s pending demise.
Twitter is ALIVE
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 20, 2022
That said, several left-leaning figures, especially journalists, have fled Twitter for another platform called “Mastodon, only to destroy it with their waves of negativity,” the Western Journal noted in an op-ed.
“Mastodon, a social media alternative to Twitter, has reportedly become the source of woke infighting and journalistic ‘gatekeeping,’ much to the amusement of media critics and Twitter CEO Elon Musk himself,” Fox News reported this week.
Mastodon is hell. And it’s a hell in which every moderator can read your DMs and if they deem you to be talking behind their backs you will get banned. It’s the inverse of Twitter, where people can publicly make fun of @elonmusk and not get banned for it. pic.twitter.com/vZFj6nRVVP
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) November 20, 2022
Hope all judgy hall monitors stay on other platforms – please, I’m begging u
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 21, 2022
The infighting on Mastodon led Musk to quip this week as well: “Hope all judgy hall monitors stay on other platforms — please, I’m begging u.”
