Fox News host and Daily Caller co-host Tucker Carlson argued Tuesday that Elon Musk’s potential takeover of Twitter would be a “direct challenge” to liberal elites.
Carlson argued Musk, who became the largest shareholder of Twitter after buying a 9.2% stake April 4, could reestablish the free exchange of exchange of open debate on the platform.
“If that were to happen, we could see a return of free speech to the United States and nothing should give you more hope than that possibility,” Carlson said. “A free Twitter would mean an open debate about ideas on the single most important incubator of elite opinion in the world. It would mean a return to free and fair elections in the United States. A system in which both sides are allowed to make their case to the public and then the public can decide, it’s called democracy.”
“And above all, a free Twitter would mean a direct challenge to the people in charge of our country’s institutions, many of whom are incompetent.”
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Carlson said having honest, open discussions about government leaders makes democracy possible, but the powerful are currently imposing censorship on social media platforms to protect their own power.
“The point of censorship is never to shield the weak, no matter what Barack Obama may tell you,” he continued. “The point of censorship always, and everywhere, is to protect entrenched power. That’s why it’s the powerful who impose censorship for their own benefit. And that’s exactly why illegitimate regimes fight so hard to control information through censorship, that’s their main concern.”
The Daily Caller co-founder played MSNBC footage of host Stephanie Ruhle calling the possibility of former President Donald Trump being reinstated on the platform a “nightmare-inducing note.” (RELATED: ‘Don’t Believe Facts Are Hate Speech’: Babylon Bee CEO Doubles Down On Rachel Levine Tweet)
“It would be a nightmare, she says, if a democratically elected president was able to speak in public. And in some ways, she’s right. Shattering its monopoly on speech could break the Democratic Party. Even an MSNBC anchor understands that. Why are they so determined to keep you from talking? Because they know your talking is the threat to their power.”
He further noted the Democratic Party and social media platforms have more power than voters which can directly impact election results and that Congress has continued to ignore the issue.
Twitter censored Carlson in March for posting screenshots of tweets by the Babylon Bee and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. The two had been suspended from the platform after the Babylon Bee labeled transgender Assistant Secretary of Health Rachel Levine, a biological male, as “The Babylon Bee’s Man of the Year.”
After the satirical outlet’s suspension, Kirk pointed out that Levine is a biological man who had a wife and family, and yet is still labeled “woman of the year” by USA Today.
“Richard Levine spent 54 years of his life as a man. He had a wife and a family. He ‘transitioned’ to being a woman in 2011, Joe Biden appointed Levine to be a 4-Star Admiral and now USA Today has named ‘Rachel’ Levine as a ‘Woman of the Year’ Where are the feminists?”
The platform notably banned Trump’s account in January 2021 for allegedly inciting or justifying violence at the U.S. Capitol.
