Anyone who follows the comings and goings of the social media world and the way it intersects with American politics has probably noticed the evolution of attitudes toward Elon Musk, particularly on the left. He used to be vaunted by people across the political spectrum. The boy genius billionaire with a generous heart was going to put everyone in electric cars and save humanity by taking us to other planets. But now American liberals have soured on Musk considerably. He regularly faces criticism of a political nature, despite having no specific ties to political parties or candidates. Questions have been raised about his character and even his business acumen. (Despite being either the richest or second-richest man on the planet, depending on which day you check.) So where did all of this come from? At PJ Media, Stephen Kruiser breaks it all down and determines that this is mostly happening because Musk bought Twitter and he’s messing up the left’s plans to meddle in the 2024 elections.
As we are all too aware, the Democrats and their insidious minions in the media have been working hard to get a head start on pre-gaming next year’s presidential election. They’d prefer that there be no election at all, which is rich given that they’re the ones who say we’re destroying democracy.
They’re fighting this battle on many fronts. The coordinated effort to ruin Elon Musk is a big part of the effort. In 2020, the Democrats had complete control of all of the major social media platforms, which they used to keep critical information from the American public, particularly the younger voters. Dissenting conservative voices were shut down. News about Hunter Biden’s laptop was made to disappear.
When Musk acquired Twitter, he greatly upset their plans for a repeat performance in 2024. They stomped their feet and tried to create alternative platforms and have been whining about Musk and what he’s done to Twitter ever since.
The battle to “ruin Musk” is real and the perpetrators aren’t being particularly subtle about it. The latest effort was a coordinated push to shut down Musk’s revenue stream on Twitter by getting some of his major advertisers to go dark. They were probably given a big boost by China in this effort, but that’s a natural fit with the American left these days. Much of the strategizing and coordination allegedly came from Media Matters for America, the online propaganda outlet of the DNC.
Kruiser describes the left’s efforts as “unceasing and remarkably unsuccessful.” But they haven’t actually been entirely unsuccessful. Twitter revenue remains well below its pre-Musk levels. I don’t believe it’s possible to say how much of that effect was driven by partisan pressure from the left and how much might have been the natural response from users, not all of whom have been wild about the many, continuing changes Musk made to the platform.
I can relate to at least some of the grousing that’s been going on. I was originally a huge fan of Musk’s plans to restore true free speech to Twitter, and I still support that goal. His willingness to open up the Twitter Files to journalists and expose what the company had been up to during the 2020 election cycle was admirable indeed. But since that time there have been other changes. The idea of “free speech” is still freer than it used to be, but it appears to be situational if people are posting things Musk doesn’t care for. Also, the elimination of the original blue checkmark system didn’t sit well with me and its replacement (pay for validation without being validated) is even worse. I still haven’t signed up for the program.
But it’s Elon Musk’s company now and he can operate it as he sees fit. He seems to be bringing in enough revenue across his various ventures to keep everything up and running, at least for the time being. And if he manages to drive the political left nuts in the process, that’s just a bonus as far as I’m concerned. I’m far more worried about what other plans are currently unfolding in the background to warp the information pool in favor of the Democrats next year. They’ve done it before and they’re not going to stop now.
