Twitter owner Musk endorses Republicans in US midterms
His tweet to his more than 110 million followers is the first instance of an explicit endorsement by the head of a major social media platform.
Elon Musk, who frequently comments on US politics, said in April that Twitter ‘must be politically neutral’ Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, threw his weight behind Republicans ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections in the United States, saying they could use control of Congress to act as a balance against President Joe Biden’s Democrats.
The world’s richest person, Musk has faced criticism from some groups who believe his absolutist stance on free speech will increase misinformation on Twitter. Some advertisers have pulled spending from the platform, with Musk blaming critics concerned about content moderation.
Musk, also CEO of Tesla, has been critical of the Biden administration and Democrats for their proposals to tax billionaires and give more tax incentives to union-made electric vehicles. Tesla does not have unions at its US factories.
He directed his Twitter message to what he called “independent-minded voters”, writing: “Shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties, therefore I recommend voting for a Republican Congress, given that the presidency is Democratic.”
Later, he added, “I’m open to the idea of voting Democrat again in the future”, and said he had historically been an independent who had voted for Democrats.
Republicans are favoured to win a majority in the House of Representatives in Tuesday’s elections, with the Senate rated a toss-up by nonpartisan election forecasters. They could use a majority in either chamber to bring Biden’s legislative agenda to a halt and launch potentially politically damaging investigations into Biden’s administration and family.
Kyle Kondik, from the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said it was unlikely Musk’s words would influence the election’s outcome.
“It’s hard to expect any sort of celebrity ‘endorsement’, as this basically is, to have much if any effect on voter behaviour,” Kondik said.
The White House declined to comment on Musk’s tweet.
He has said he was leaning towards supporting Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis for president in 2024 and that former President Donald Trump, who sources said is likely to launch another White House run in coming days, was too old to serve as president again.
Asked about Musk’s comments, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said: “The president has often spoken about the importance of voting, and I’m just going to leave it there as to not get involved in any kind of election conversation.”
Former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich described Musk’s comments as “very encouraging”.
New line for social media execs
Musk is not alone among social media executives in taking open political stances.
For instance, Sheryl Sandberg, former chief operating officer of Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc, has donated heavily to progressive candidates and endorsed Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton in 2016
