Musk Breaks ‘Politically Impartial’ Twitter Promise After Endorsing Republicans In Midterms

November 7, 2022

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Topline

Elon Musk pleaded on Twitter Monday for voters to again Republican candidates a day earlier than midterm elections, the strongest indicator but of how the world’s wealthiest man will use his newly acquired social community as a mouthpiece for his political agenda.

Elon Musk, left, meets with then President Donald Trump on the White Home in 2017.

AFP by way of Getty Photos

Key Details

Addressing “independent-minded voters,” Musk wrote he recommends “voting for a Republican Congress, on condition that the Presidency is Democratic,” explaining, “shared energy curbs the worst excesses of each events.”

Musk, whose $44 billion takeover of Twitter closed final month, has vowed to rout the platform of what he calls a “sturdy” liberal bias.

However the outright endorsement of Republicans is a shock even for Musk, who mentioned in April Twitter have to be “politically impartial” to “deserve public belief” and has labored in latest days to guarantee advertisers the platform gained’t descend right into a “free-for-all hellscape.”

Key Background

The billionaire has already been arduous at work reshaping the platform to his imaginative and prescient, notably axing numerous workers tasked with moderating election content material and making a council to judge the reinstatement of largely far-right accounts beforehand banned by Twitter, together with former President Donald Trump’s. Musk mentioned in Might he deliberate to vote Republican, decrying Democrats because the “occasion of division & hate.”

Chief Critic

“How would you, as the pinnacle of Twitter, justify recommending which occasion folks ought to vote for after you advocated for political neutrality for the platform?” Reuters reporter Kanishka Singh replied to Musk’s tweet Monday.

What To Watch For

Polls counsel Republicans will doubtless take management of the Home whereas the Senate stays a tossup. Increased turnout amongst Republican voters is probably going.

Tangent

After doubtlessly swaying the U.S.’ political future, Musk went again to his typical antics, making a number of crude jokes about Twitter competitor Mastodon.