Liberals Fume over Elon Musk Twitter Purchase: ‘It’s About White Power’

elon musk
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
Joshua Klein

An array of left-wing personalities took to Twitter in the wake of a potential sale of social media giant Twitter to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, deeming it a victory for “white power” and “white nationalism” that will “silence” progressive voices and amplify “racists” and others on the right, including former President Donald Trump.

“Elon musk buying Twitter is a dream come true for white nationalists,” wrote left-wing comedian and commentator Dean Obeidallah. “After all musk is from the former apartheid country of South Africa which the white supremacists idolize.”

“Wonder if Elon musk will copy the apartheid rules of his home country South Africa and give us check marks based on our skin color?” Obeidallah wrote in another tweet. “The whiter the check mark the more rights you have on Twitter.”

“Now that Elon Musk is buying Twitter, the question for all of us is: Will he allow a Criminal who used this platform to lie and spread disinformation to try to overthrow the US Government to return and continue his Criminal activity?” wrote far-left Hollywood elitist Rob Reiner.

“And if he does, how do we combat it?” he added.

“I still think Elon Musk owning Twitter is a bad idea. He will amplify racists, bigots, and misinformation,” wrote liberal columnist David Weissman.

“He is a bad-faith actor with his distorted views of free speech and censorship,” he added.

“At its root, @ElonMusk wanting to purchase Twitter is not about left vs right. It’s about white power,” wrote left-wing activist Shaun King.

“The man was raised in Apartheid by a white nationalist,” he added. “He’s upset that Twitter won’t allow white nationalists to target/harass people. That’s his definition of free speech.”

“Elon Musk has openly called himself a ‘free speech absolutist’ and said that he wants to create a space where anything can be said about anyone,” King wrote in another tweet.

“That’s why white nationalists are giddy today. Here on Twitter and other platforms that I track daily,” he added. “It’s dangerous.”

In yet another tweet, King writes that the pushback is over “how the richest man in the world, a son of Apartheid, raised by a white nationalist, wants to be sure his speech, and that of other white men, isn’t censored.”

King deleted his account soon after those postings.

“This is snark, but… Trump’s following dwarfed those of any reporters who shared his press releases,” wrote the New York Times‘ Blake Hounshell. “Putting Trump back on Twitter would inject him directly back into the public sphere, with unpredictable consequences.”

“The idea that Trump’s existence in the ‘public sphere’ is dependent on Twitter is absurd,” wrote Lincoln Project founder Steve Schmidt. “He is a dominant and malicious figure in our society who has shown that he can break laws with impunity to such a degree that he remains the GOP front runner even after his coup attempt.”

“Well what a Monday morning on Twitter… So now that Twitter is being sold, anyone want to take bets on when we can expect Trump be back on here?  *sigh*,” wrote Atima Omara, a writer and political strategist.

“If you leave every social media platform with corrupt leadership and dangerous practices—you won’t be on social media,” he added in another tweet. “Use every available venue to fight fascism while you can. November elections matter more than ever.”

“This hell site is a front line in the war on disinformation. I understand why folks would deactivate in response to Musk’s reported purchase of Twitter, but there’s a need here for rational adults to push back against the vile and relentless propaganda. It’s worth the fight,” wrote LBGTQ rights advocate Charlotte Clymer.

“So enjoying the most toxic, right wing trolls still on this platform drooling with excitement and baring their teeth at the normal, thoughtful people who plan to exit once Musk has turned this site into Parler,” wrote MSNBC anchor Joy Reid. “As if they actually enjoy quacking only with each other on Parler…”

“That MAGA trolls giddily warn how Musk & Trump will revenge harm us shows how far we’ve sunk as a nation,” wrote political commentator Cheri Jacobus.

“They think fearing a politician and oligarch is good,” she added. “That many of us fear Trump media pals bcs they can & have destroyed some of us out of revenge is another sign of demise.”

“Make no mistake,” wrote actor Kirk Acevedo. “Progressive voices will be methodically silenced once Twitter is sold to Elon Musk.”

“The war begins…,” he added. “Who’s with me?!”

Following the reports that Musk may be nearing a deal with the Twitter board to buy the company, leftist “verified” accounts on the platform went into meltdown mode at the prospect of the self-described free speech absolutist’s taking over, with many declaring their intention to leave the site in the event of such a sale.

Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.

 

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.