Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he will be voting Republican in the next election, despite “overwhelmingly” voting for Democrats throughout his life.
Musk made his remark on Monday while speaking at a Miami tech conference, where the billionaire discussed his views on Twitter — after placing his deal to buy the platform “on hold” — and free speech, according to a report by Business Insider.
“The reality is that Twitter at this point, you know, has a very far left bias,” Musk said. “I would classify myself as a moderate, neither Republican nor Democrat.”
“I have voted overwhelmingly for Democrats, historically — I’m not sure, I might never have voted for a Republican, just to be clear,” the SpaceX CEO continued. “Now this election I will.”
Musk did not specify whether he was referring to November’s midterm elections or the 2024 presidential election.
Despite this, Musk insisted that he does not lean Republican or Democrat, and calls himself a moderate, adding that his $44 billion purchase of Twitter would not be “some right-wing takeover as people on the left may fear,” but rather a “moderate-wing takeover.”
The Tesla CEO said his planned revamp of Twitter would “attempt to ensure that people of all political beliefs feel welcome on a digital town square,” where they can speak freely “without fear of being banned or shadow-banned.”
Musk also stressed the importance of free speech, which he defined as when “someone you don’t like is saying something you don’t like.”
“I mean, I get trashed by the media all the time,” Musk said. “That’s fine. I don’t care, good. Do it twice as much, I couldn’t care less.”
“But it’s indicative of the fact that, even though I have a lot of resources, I do not actually have the ability to stop the media from trashing me — and that’s a good thing,” the billionaire added.
Recently, Musk put placed his deal to acquire Twitter on hold pending an investigation into bot accounts on the platform, but insisted that he is “still committed to the acquisition.”
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