Whether you believe him or not (don’t), Elon Musk claims he is buying Twitter to protect “free speech” but he’s already turning the top social media platform into a home for the far-right – exactly as liberals warned.
On Thursday the billionaire was accused of sounding “just like Trump” when he posted a demonstrably false meme alleging conservatives haven’t changed since 2008, while the “center” and liberals have moved to the left – with liberals running to the extreme far left. Again, demonstrably false.
Apparently not thrilled by the massive negative response from the left, on Friday Musk tweeted, “The far left hates everyone, themselves included!”
About 20 minutes later, again apparently gauging reaction, he added: “But I’m no fan of the far right either. Let’s have less hate and more love,” acting as if he already owned the place – which he does not.
Friday night, Musk responded to a tweet from a powerful sitting member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). While she did not tag him, it was clearly about him.
“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,” she wrote.
News reported Friday suggested Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey asked Musk to buy the social media site – and “libertarians” like Thiel urged him on.
The Wall Street Journal reported hours earlier that Dorsey “was whispering in Mr. Musk’s ear that Twitter should be a private company, people familiar with the matter say.” The Journal also reported billionaire Peter Thiel, a strong Trump backer, had been urging Musk to get involved. Thiel is also a strong backer of Trump-aligned MAGA candidates.
So it’s no wonder that Musk responded to AOC in a most vile manner, sexualizing her remarks, which was a dog whistle – if not a clarion call – to the misogynistic far right, who came barking with glee.
This was Musk’s ugly response:
Emma Vigeland, the co-host and producer of The Majority Report with Sam Seder weighed in: “Congratulations on reaching yet another right-wing milestone, Elon: projecting your own creepy sexual fixations onto Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. It’s a rite of passage!”
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Geraldine DeRuiter, “the voice behind the award-winning Everywhereist blog,” observed: “This is how the owner of this platform is choosing to engage with elected female officials. The misogyny is staggering.”
Here’s how the far-right responded to Musk’s tweet:
Image by Thomas Hawk via Flickr and a CC license