Musk, the boss of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter, and the richest man in the world, shared that appeal in a tweet with his nearly 115 million followers. He reasons in his tweet that shared power curbs the worst excesses of both camps. “That’s why I recommend voting for a Republican Congress,” said the wealthy entrepreneur. That would mean President Joe Biden’s Democratic party would lose control of Congress, increasing the risk of ongoing political stalemates.
Musk has made political statements in the past and expressed his solidarity with the Republican Party, which is still dominated by ex-President Donald Trump. In May, he said the Democrats had become a “party of division and hatred.” He also announced that he would investigate a complaint from across the right-wing political spectrum that Twitter was being censored in favor of the left. Twitter should not favor either party, he wrote at the time.
A few days ago, Biden strongly criticized Musk’s takeover of Twitter. “Musk acquires a company that is spreading lies around the world,” Biden said at a fundraiser in the state of Illinois. “There are no more editors in America. How should we expect young people to understand what is at stake?”
Following his recent takeover of Twitter, Musk has pledged to restore free speech on the platform. At the same time, he argues that hate speech is not given free rein. Many of the world’s biggest brands have temporarily stopped advertising via Twitter, deterred by Musk’s disdain for content restrictions.