Elon Musk Says Democratic Party Has Been ‘Hijacked by Extremists’
“For Twitter to deserve public trust it must be politically neutral, which effectively means upsetting the far right and the far left equally,” Musk said.
Elon Musk is not making a secret of where he stands on the political spectrum any longer. On Friday the billionaire, who just had his bid to purchase Twitter accepted by its board of directors, sent a tweet that shook liberals.
“The far left hates everyone, themselves included!” he tweeted. He later followed that with another tweet giving a tepid condemnation of the “far-right.” “But I’m no fan of the far right either. Let’s have less hate and more love,” he said.
‘‘I strongly supported Obama for President, but today’s Democratic Party has been hijacked by extremists.”
It came after a tweet he sent on Thursday where he showed himself becoming more right-leaning. The tweet was a drawing of stick figures. One represents a liberal, another represents a conservative, and one represents Musk.
The meme shows him in 2008 being left of center and the liberal with a caption that said: “my fellow liberal.”
On the next line it shows 2012 and Musk is in the same place, but as the sides get more extreme and the center moves Musk is now only slightly to the left of the center and the liberal is now further away with the caption “my fellow liberal?” this time posed as a question.
By the line that shows 2021, it shows the center moving far to the left and Musk now being closer to the conservative and on the right of center with the liberal now labeled as a “’ woke’ progressive’ and calling him a “bigot.”
Later, in response to another Twitter post, Musk wrote: “I strongly supported Obama for President, but today’s Democratic Party has been hijacked by extremists.”
On Monday, Musk and Twitter announced they came to an agreement for Musk, considered the world’s richest person, to purchase the social media website and take it private. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO hasn’t yet assumed control over Twitter, as closing such a deal could take weeks or months, while current CEO Parag Agrawal and other top employees are still employed at the company.
After Musk posted the meme and criticism of the Democratic Party, left-wing users immediately criticized him, and some threatened to leave the site.
“It’s now 100% clear that Musk is part of the GOP propaganda apparatus,” MSNBC contributor Dean Obeidallah wrote in response to the post. “I know you were hoping to be wrong—but it’s clear that Elon Musk is exactly as vile as you thought he was.”
Left-wing commentator and Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King similarly wrote: “The right didn’t move at all during the past 20 years? Zero movement? That’s what this illustration says.”
While novelist David Leavitt issued a response to the image, claiming: “This is propaganda.”
After the Twitter–Musk deal was announced, several celebrities and other verified “blue check mark” users said they would leave the platform.
“Looks like I’m about to say goodbye to Twitter as well. I’ve been pulling back a bit from social media anyway. This will be just the push I need to go all the way on this app,” posted Charles Blow, a New York Times opinion writer.
“Tired of having to collectively stress about what explosion of hate crimes is happening bc some billionaire with an ego problem unilaterally controls a massive communication platform and skews it because Tucker Carlson or Peter Thiel took him to dinner and made him feel special.”— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @AOC · Apr 29, 2022
Musk also wrote early Friday that “the far left hates everyone, themselves included.” Earlier this week, he declared that Twitter should remain neutral and said left-wing users are the ones who are primarily attacking him online.
By “free speech”, I simply mean that which matches the law. I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law. If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws to that effect. Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people.
“For Twitter to deserve public trust it must be politically neutral, which effectively means upsetting the far right and the far left equally,” Musk said.
Twitter’s chief lawyer — seen as the social network’s top advocate for censoring conservatives — is among the highly paid executives who stand to lose their job if Elon Musk completes his takeover of the company.
No Confidence in Twitter’s current management
Vijaya Gadde, who earned $17 million last year as Twitter’s top legal counsel, could be on the chopping block as Musk is reportedly planning to slash jobs and reduce executive pay as he looks to secure financing for his Twitter bid.
After disclosing plans to acquire the company earlier this month, Musk expressed “no confidence” in Twitter’s current management — which doesn’t bode well for their future once he takes the helm later this year.
Nevertheless, Gadde also stands to win a nice consolation price if she’s fired: a severance package worth $12.5 million that includes the accelerated vesting of a trove of Twitter shares she has accrued.
The 48-year-old Gadde, who reportedly broke down in tears when addressing colleagues about the future of Twitter, has become a lightning rod for controversy in recent days due in no small part to Musk himself, who tweeted a meme that painted her as oblivious to a “liberal bias” at Twitter.
The Musk tweet as well as a critical tweet by journalist Saagar Enjeti, who called Gadde Twitter’s “top censorship advocate” who “censored the Hunter Biden laptop story,” prompted pro-Musk Twitter users to criticize her.
Musk also implicitly criticized Gadde by calling Twitter’s decision to block links to the New York Post’s coverage of Hunter Biden’s laptop “obviously incredibly inappropriate.”
The piece was banned by major social media sites in the weeks before the election, with Twitter justifying accusations of censorship by labeling the story “content obtained through hacking that contains private information.”
Many mainstream outlets also tried to discredit the Post’s article, before later reporting on its veracity long after President Joe Biden was elected.
In response to the flood of online criticism directed at Gadde earlier this week, another top Twitter executive defended her and accused Musk of “misogyny.”
Lara Cohen, Twitter’s global head of partners, also shared messages of support for Leslie Berland, the company’s chief marketing officer who was caught in leaked audio suggesting that Musk’s plans for free speech put them in “a very difficult position.”
“Color me shocked SHOCKED that people are coming for two of our prominent female executives on day 1 of this thing,” Cohen tweeted late Tuesday.
She also shared a tweet attacking Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley for pointing out that the tearful Gadde was “the same one who led the charge to censor the Hunter Biden laptop reporting. Says it all.”
Hawley called on the world’s richest man to also now investigate the company’s old ways, including widespread suspensions of accounts as well as reports of shadowbans suppressing voices.
In an official letter, he called on Musk to also investigate “who was responsible for deliberately suppressing the New York Post’s now-vindicated reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop and business dealings.”
Since the 90s the right has moved a little further right, but the left has moved significantly further to the left.
On Thursday, Twitter reported 229 million daily users in the first quarter of 2022, which is up about 15 million from the December-ended quarter. Analysts said in notes that the rise was higher than expected, although the firm said its revenue rose to $1.2 billion in the first quarter—slightly below earnings forecasts.