Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, is encouraging his more than 100 million Twitter followers to vote Republican in Tuesday’s midterm elections.
In a tweet directed at “independent-minded voters,” the CEO of Tesla advised them to vote for the Republican Party because “shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties.”
Musk’s political message comes just over a week after he tweeted unsubstantiated allegations regarding the recent attack on the Democratic husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The tweet was subsequently deleted. Sunday, Musk also tweeted that “Twitter must become by far the most accurate source of global information. That is our objective.”
To independent-minded voters:
Given that shared power restrains the worst excesses of both parties, I recommend voting for a Republican Congress despite the fact that the presidency is held by a Democrat.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 7, 2022
Musk has moved swiftly to leave his mark on the struggling company since completing his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter late last month. Along with dismissing former CEO Parag Agrawal and other top executives, Musk has laid off approximately 3,700 employees in an effort to reduce costs.
Musk, who has described himself as a proponent of free speech, has also pledged to loosen content moderation on the platform after a “council” reviews its policies. On Sunday, he tweeted that Twitter would permanently suspend any impersonation account. Kathy Griffin was one of those whose Twitter privileges were suspended after she and others changed their display names to “Elon Musk.”
A week after Elon Musk’s takeover, Twitter employees were let go. 06:24
In response to pressure from human rights groups, a number of big corporations have suspended their advertising on Twitter, including Audi, General Mills, GM, Mondelez, and Pfizer. Musk stated on Friday that this has resulted in a “huge decline” in revenue for the company, whose growth has slowed significantly this year and which continues to incur losses.
Musk has previously voiced a desire to reduce Twitter’s reliance on advertising by charging a $8 monthly subscription for verification.