Elon Musk said that he will vote Republican in the upcoming election for the first time
Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO who hopes to buy Twitter, has announced that he will now vote Republican after previously voting “overwhelmingly” for Democrats.
Musk, a moderate registered independent voter, made the statements while appearing via video link at a tech summit organized by the All-In podcast in Miami on Monday, according to Insider.
The world’s richest billionaire, whose $44 billion acquisition of Twitter in April is on delay awaiting information on fake accounts, labelled Twitter as having a “very far-left bias” before claiming to be a moderate because he is “neither Republican nor Democrat.”
“I have voted overwhelmingly for Democrats, historically. Like I’m not sure, I might never have voted for a Republican, just to be clear,” Musk said.
“Now this election I will,” Elon Musk continued. It was uncertain whether Musk was referring to the midterm elections in November or the presidential election in 2024.
Musk further told individuals that if he does buy Twitter, it will not be a “right-wing takeover” as some on the left fear, but rather a “moderate wing takeover.”
There were concerns that Musk’s promise to turn Twitter into a “digital town square” where content is hardly monitored and all expression is welcomed might cause an increase in hateful speech or harassment.
Discussing the importance of free speech at the conference, Musk said: “I get trashed by the media all the time. That’s fine. I don’t care, good. Do it twice as much, I couldn’t care less.
“But it’s indicative of the fact that, even though I have a lot of resources, I do not actually have the ability to stop the media from trashing me,” Musk added. “And that’s a good thing.”
Many saw Musk’s proposal to relax Twitter’s rules as a sign that those who have been prohibited from the site in the past, such as far-right extremists and former President Donald Trump, may be permitted to return.
Musk previously stated that after his takeover is complete, Trump will be permitted to return to Twitter, which he was permanently blocked from following the January 6 incident due to concerns that he would instigate new violence.
