Elon Musk Says He'll Vote Republican for First Time in Next Election
Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO who plans to buy Twitter, said he will now vote Republican having "overwhelmingly" voted for Democrats in the past.
Musk, a registered independent voter who describes himself as moderate, made the remarks while speaking via video link at a tech summit in Miami, Florida, hosted by the All-In podcast on Monday, reported Insider.
The world's richest man, whose $44 billion takeover of Twitter in April is on hold pending information on spam accounts, described how the platform has a "very far-left bias" before saying he would classify himself as a moderate as he is "neither Republican nor Democrat."
"I have voted overwhelmingly for Democrats, historically. Like I'm not sure, I might never have voted for a Republican, just to be clear," Musk said.
"Now this election I will," Musk added. It was unclear if Musk was talking about voting for a GOP candidate in November's midterms, or in the 2024 presidential election.
Musk also assured people that if he does purchase Twitter, it will not be a "right-wing takeover as people on the left may fear" and he plans on making it a "moderate wing takeover."
There had been concerns that Musk's vow to make Twitter a "digital town square" where content is not be as strictly moderated and all speech encouraged could lead to an increase in hate speech or harassment.
Discussing the importance of free speech at the conference, Musk said: "I get trashed by the media all the time. 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," Musk added. "And that's a good thing."
Others have also seen Musk's promise to allow implement less restrictions on Twitter as a sign those who have previously been banned from the platform, including far-right extremists and former president Donald Trump, could be allowed back in the social media site.
Musk previously confirmed he would allow Trump—who was permanently suspended from Twitter in the wake of the January 6 attack over concerns he would incite further violence—would be allowed to return to the site once his takeover is complete.
In an May 10 interview for The Financial Times, Musk described Twitter's decision to ban Trump as "foolish in the extreme."
"I do think that it was not correct to ban Donald Trump. I think that was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the country, and it did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice," Musk said.
