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Musk Consulted With The Babylon Bee Before Buying A Big Chunk Of Twitter

(Photo by Britta Pedersen-Pool/Getty Images)

Nicole Silverio Media Reporter
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Elon Musk consulted with The Babylon Bee and polled his followers on free speech before buying a large share of Twitter, the outlet’s CEO announced Tuesday.

“Musk reached out to us before he polled his followers about Twitter’s commitment to free speech,” Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon said. “He wanted to confirm that we had, in fact, been suspended. He even mused on that call that he might need to buy Twitter. Now he’s the largest shareholder and has a seat on the board.”

Musk bought a 9.2% stake, roughly 73.5 million shares, Monday  in Twitter Inc., making him the largest shareholder in Twitter. The Tesla CEO posted a poll questioning users’ views on the platform’s adherence to free speech, to which 70% responded that Twitter does not value speech. (RELATED: CEO Announces Elon Musk Will Serve On Board, ‘Is Exactly’ What Twitter Needs Because He’s An ‘Intense Critic’) 

The Babylon Bee was locked out of Twitter in March for “hateful conduct” after naming Assistant Secretary for Health Dr. Rachel Levine as its “Man of the Year.” Levine, a biological male identifying as transgender, was named one of  USA Today’s “Women of the Year.”

Dillon told Fox News host and Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson that the outlet will not delete the tweet despite their suspension, arguing that “facts are not hate speech.”

“We don’t believe that facts are hate speech, that speaking truth is hate speech,” the CEO said. “At some point, people need to stick by this, Tucker. People have to be willing to say ‘listen, if they want us to deny the truth in order to stay on this platform, we speak the truth. Make them kick you off. Make them boot you.”