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Billionaire Elon Musk has said he will vote Republican in the next election.
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The Tesla CEO said he had voted “overwhelmingly” for Democrats throughout his life.
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Despite this, Musk said he leans “neither Republican nor Democrat” and calls himself “moderate.”
Billionaire Elon Musk has said he plans to vote Republican in the next election cycle after voting “overwhelmingly” for Democrats in the past.
The CEO and founder of Tesla made the remark on Monday while speaking via video link at a technology conference in Miami, where he discussed his views on Twitter and free speech, among other things. topics.
“The reality is that Twitter at this point, you know, has a very left-wing bias,” Musk said at the conference. “I would call myself a moderate, not a Republican or a Democrat.”
“I’ve voted overwhelmingly for Democrats, historically. Since I’m not sure, I might never have voted for a Republican, just to be clear,” he continued.
“Now this election, I will do it,” he added. Although Musk did not specify whether he was referring to the November midterm elections or the 2024 presidential election, his comments drew an enthusiastic response from the audience and panelists.
Musk also said his $44 billion purchase of Twitter would not be “a right-wing takeover like people on the left might fear.” Instead, it would be a “moderate wing takeover”, he added.
The billionaire said his planned redesign of the social media platform would “try to make people of all political persuasions feel welcome in a digital public square” – a place where they can speak freely “without fear. to be banned or shadow banished”.
Musk also spoke about the importance of freedom of speech, which he defined as being exercised when “someone you don’t like says something you don’t like.” “That’s where it really counts,” he said.
“I mean, I get trashed by the media all the time,” Musk continued. “It’s okay. I don’t care, fine. Do twice as much, I don’t care.”
“But it’s indicative of the fact that, although I have a lot of resources, I don’t really have the ability to stop the media from bashing me,” he added. “And this is a good thing.”
There has been widespread debate about how Musk would potentially handle Twitter and its free speech regulations.
Many Democrats fear Musk is letting dangerous misinformation proliferate on the platform. At the same time, politicians and GOP pundits hailed it as a gateway for many previously banned commenters to return to Twitter.
Some GOP pundits hoped the purchase would allow Twitter to reinstate the account of former President Donald Trump, who was permanently banned in January 2021 for what the company called a “risk of inciting violence.”
Musk said on May 11 that he would reverse Trump’s ban on the platform, calling Twitter’s earlier move “crazy in the extreme.”
The Miami event was hosted by a podcast called “All-In,” led by Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, David Sacks and David Friedberg.
Read the original article on Business Insider
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