Elon Musk is a man who founded household names — Tesla being the cream of the crop.
His ventures employ more than 110,000 workers around the globe. And he’s now the richest man in the world to boot.
Yet Musk has committed a cardinal sin: He dares to explore a $47 billion tender offer for Twitter, a social media app that once championed free speech, but whose brand is now marred by “woke” politics, censorship and blacklisting.
For the radical left, Musk’s interest in Twitter is a bridge too far. Why? Because, according to the left-leaning Washington Post, he has “appeared to mock gender pronouns” and “peddled coronavirus misinformation.”
Forget the tens of thousands of jobs created. Forget Musk’s electric vehicle revolution. Forget his all-private forays into space or SpaceX’s exploration of Mars. Musk dares to believe in the concept of men and women. He’s not woke. Imagine that!
And what does Musk plan to bring to Twitter? Free expression for all — that’s all. According to Musk, “Is someone you don’t like allowed to say something you don’t like? If that is the case, then we have free speech. It’s damn annoying, but that is the sign of a healthy, functioning free speech situation.” In cases where content is controversial, Musk errs on the side of people being exposed to that content, rather than being coddled and babied. In his words: “If it’s a gray area, I would say let the tweet exist.” Popular podcaster Joe Rogan supports Musk’s Twitter
In his words and his actions, Musk stands on the side of the First Amendment, which allows any and every American to express themselves freely — especially on a social media platform that originally stood for (and profited from) unencumbered speech. Musk has also shown a willingness to collaborate with and listen to others, considering partnerships for his Twitter bid.
Musk is not injecting right-wing propaganda into Twitter. Nor is he preventing liberal Democrats from expressing themselves. He just believes in free expression for Democrats and Republicans and
Twitter needs Musk exponentially more than Musk — a man whose money is made, and then some. Due to politics, the company has lost countless users who don’t believe in President Trump and others getting kicked off the platform. Hundreds of thousands of people now use President Trump’s new platform, Truth Social, and many used to be on Twitter.
A Musk-run Twitter would signal a sea change for American politics writ large, given the tens of millions of remaining Twitter users in the United States. At a time when free expression is no longer guaranteed in America, Twitter’s reaffirmation of the First Amendment would give a voice to the voiceless and spell victory against a radical left that has made it a mission to cancel libertarians and conservatives for nothing at all. It would reestablish belief and trust in the American experiment.
From Twitter to Disney and the rest, corporate America will embrace anti-wokeness or die. Peddling radical gender ideology to children is not sustainable policy — because most people didn’t ask for it. Rejecting the long-established definitions of gender and sex is destined to backfire. Allowing Biden supporters to express themselves, while blacklisting Trump voters, is a recipe for disaster. It sows discontent, further fraying the fabric of our “melting pot.”
Earlier this year, Musk tweeted that “free speech is essential to a functioning democracy.” Asking Twitter users whether the company “rigorously adheres to this principle,” more than 70% of people responded “no.”
That’s why Twitter desperately needs Elon Musk. Under his leadership, that 70% can become a “yes.” Without him, America’s champions of free speech suffer yet another defeat.
Harrison Rogers is founder and CEO of Arizona-based HJR Global, and a serial entrepreneur and angel investor.