Elon Musk claims that the acquisition of Twitter was “existential” for American democracy

In a lengthy interview with Joe Rogan, Elon Musk vehemently defended his contentious Twitter acquisition—now known as X. He presented the purchase as an essential action to defend free expression and American democracy in general, rather than as a financial choice.

Musk had serious concerns about the platform’s pre-acquisition censorship, citing Donald Trump’s ban as a turning point. Regarding the previous president’s tweets, he questioned the storyline, saying , “He was posting things…like ‘Hey, we do not riot…please stay calm.’ What’s wrong with that?” He also challenged the idea that Trump’s calls for calm were “dog whistles” meaning the opposite, arguing it was illogical to ban someone for discouraging violence.

Musk accused the mainstream media of becoming a “mouthpiece for the Democratic Party,” functioning as a “one hive mind” instead of separate entities. As proof, he pointed to the consistent usage of particular words and the absence of fair reporting. Musk recalled that “every media organization was saying ‘Biden sharpens his attack’…obviously a huge lie” in relation to the media’s coverage of the Biden-Trump debate. In contrast, he pointed out that Kamala Harris “deliberately repeated the fine people hoax” on the same platform, demonstrating a lack of fact-checking.

Musk also expressed worries about what may happen to X if Kamala Harris were to become president, suggesting that she would “freaking shut down” the platform. Citing the DOJ’s ongoing case against SpaceX for allegedly discriminating against asylum seekers despite the fact that it is prohibited for the corporation to hire non-permanent residents because of the sensitive nature of their technology, he expressed a worry of politically motivated lawsuits. “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t” is how he put it, implying that the government “decided SpaceX was a target” and then “figured out the crime afterward.” Musk contended that this underscores the perils of unbridled governmental authority and the significance of platforms such as X in preserving free expression and open discourse.