AMAC Exclusive – By Shane Harris
In a series of audacious and unprecedented moves this week, Tesla CEO, SpaceX Chief Engineer, PayPal cofounder, and self-avowed social media troll Elon Musk thrust the debate over online censorship to the fore of the national conversation, shaking many of the country’s most powerful people to their core. Whether Musk’s bid to buy Twitter is successful or not, his courage, at risk of both his own public image and business success, has exposed the rank hypocrisy and authoritarian mindset that defines America’s cultural Left.
On April 4, Musk, a longtime critic of Twitter policies like permanent bans on users and perceived targeting of politically disfavored content, revealed that he had purchased a 9.2% stake in the company, making him the largest individual shareholder. Shortly thereafter, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced that Musk had been offered a seat on the platform’s Board of Directors. But just hours later, Parag posted a message to Twitter saying that Musk had declined the Board position, leading many to speculate that the world’s richest man had decided that perhaps the platform was beyond saving.
But then, on Thursday, Musk offered to buy Twitter outright for $54.20 a share (considerably higher than the current stock price of around $45, which itself was artificially high due to speculation following Musk’s investment). In his offer, Musk stated that the site needed to be “transformed as a private company” – a move that was celebrated by conservatives and free-speech advocates. Notably, Musk added that if his offer was not accepted, he would need to “reconsider” his position as a shareholder.
The response of other major players at Twitter to Musk’s attempt at a hostile takeover of the company was a clear sign of just how terrified of him the Left is and how desperate they are to maintain their stranglehold over online speech. First, Vanguard Capital, which previously held an 8.8% stake in the company, announced Thursday that it had purchased additional shares to knock Musk off his perch as the largest individual shareholder. As the Wall Street Journal reported, Vanguard “isn’t making a directional bet on Twitter,” and the company’s purchase was apparently intended to prevent Musk from trying to force through major changes to the company’s content policies.
Then, on Friday, the Twitter Board of Directors moved to block Musk’s attempt at a takeover of the company by adopting a so-called “poison pill” plan. The plan entailed offering additional shares of the company to investors at a discount, making it difficult for Musk or any individual investor to increase their ownership of the company beyond about 15% – but also diluting the value of existing shares.
Vanguard and Twitter’s board of directors hid behind vague references to “the best interests of shareholders” to justify their maneuvers, but that reasoning doesn’t stand up to even light scrutiny. As one user put it, “You have a shareholder [Musk] offering a now 20% premium on the share price & instead of forming an independent committee to diligence the offer you offer the stock at a discount to everyone but your biggest shareholder? How does that maximize shareholder value?”
To get a better sense of the real reason the higher-ups at Twitter are so vociferously opposing Musk’s involvement in the company, one need only look at the hysterical response of the army of leftist “blue checks” (users which the site deems notable enough to verify so as to distinguish them from parody or imposter accounts; essentially, the Twitter aristocracy).
David Leavitt, a journalist with more than 300,000 followers, posted that “If Elon Musk successfully purchases Twitter, it could result in World War 3 and the destruction of our planet.” Another journalist said, “Today on Twitter feels like the last evening in a Berlin nightclub at the twilight of Weimar Germany,” insinuating that Musk restoring free speech rights on Twitter would be akin to the Nazi rise to power. The Washington Post’s Max Boot called a would-be Musk Twitter takeover a “threat to democracy” and called for more “content moderation” – the Left’s buzzword for censorship. Another Post op-ed called it “highly disconcerting” that a billionaire could simply purchase a controlling stake in a media company – the author apparently forgetting that Jeff Bezos, the world’s second richest person, bought the paper she was writing for back in 2013.
The possibility of former President Donald Trump returning to Twitter is also a common concern for the blue check crowd, with Matthew Rozsa, a writer for Salon, tweeting that “if Elon Musk allows Trump back on Twitter, it will be a death blow to the free world,” while another blue check argued that Musk was only buying Twitter “to get Trump elected again.” Of note – Musk has never expressed a particular affinity for Trump, and has never spoken publicly about a desire to restore the former President’s account.
What Musk laid bare – and why he is viewed as so dangerous by the left – is that these users, the mainstream media, the Twitter board, and the c-suites of the investment firms with a stake in the company all worship at the same altar of leftism – they all adhere to the same ideological orthodoxy.
While Twitter has a relatively small user base compared to the general population, its power lies in its status as the preferred platform for cultural elites. Actors, journalists, and politicians all gather on Twitter to share opinions and ideas. Those ideas then naturally flow into the broader culture, affecting the way we all think, speak, and interact. What the Left realized soon after the advent of social media is that by shutting out one half of the ideological spectrum, they can make a real attempt at gaining a monopoly over the culture – advancing their own power, wealth, and influence in the process.
The Left intuitively understands, though, that in order for this to work, they must control the dissemination of information. If their narrative is challenged, it will quickly crumple, and along with it their hold on power. Censorship and cancel culture thus become survival mechanisms, in part explaining the assertions from the Left in recent years that speech which runs counter to the leftist worldview is tantamount to physical violence and grounds for expulsion from every public platform. By promising to return some modicum of free and open debate to the platform, Musk has threatened to bring the whole thing crashing down.
Conservatives should nonetheless be careful to not construe Musk as a warrior for their own principles who is aiming to defeat Leftism. Musk is at his core an entrepreneur and innovator, a visionary whose life’s mission has been to push the boundaries of human exploration and understanding. Musk understands that the absence of free speech will lead to social, economic, and moral decline and therefore threaten the progress of civilization. His concerns about free speech online should be viewed through this lens, not through a narrowly partisan one.
Even if Musk does execute a successful takeover of Twitter, the reality is that free speech and open debate will still be under dire threat in this country. Though Twitter may roll back some of its most egregious “content moderation” policies, the Left will still maintain its grip over nearly every other media outlet and cultural institution. Musk is one man, and even with his vast fortune can only do so much – after all, the great thing about democracy is that one very wealthy or powerful person alone typically cannot change the entire direction of the country.
But by risking his reputation and facing down a barrage of insults and criticism, Musk has, more effectively than any conservative pundit or politician (with the possible exception of Donald Trump), forced the Left into revealing the corrupt game they are playing. Moreover, his courage may inspire others to follow his lead in the months and years ahead. At the very least, Musk is standing up for what he believes when so many others are silent. It’s a profile in courage that may cement his place in American history as one of the greatest figures of our times.
Shane Harris is a writer and political consultant from Southwest Ohio. You can follow him on Twitter @Shane_Harris_.
The left wants to control your information, income, wealth, and life. They cannot control all this if free speech is allowed by anyone opposed to such control. Free speech means allowing people that the left ironically labels as Nazi’s to speak out against the true fascists. It’s just astounding how people on the left use labels to redefine everything – – such as Antifa as anti-fascists, when in reality Antifa espouses fascists ideology and applies fascists tactics to shut down any opposition. By the way, has anyone on the left identified any substantive rights or freedoms taken away from people on the left during Trump’s term in office?
So happy to see someone that loves this Country, even though he was born else where, the socialist , the NAACP, the Southern Law, et al need to love the COUNTRY.
Poison pill or not the goal is to get controlling interest. And that is at least 51% of the shares of stock. Through a proxy Musk can do this. By the time the radical communists find out it will be too late.
I seriously wonder if there exists anything that more clearly points out the insanity of the Leftist lunatics. There should come a point when their heads explode from their level of being nuts!
An amazing article…on how seriously insane humans can get.
Freedom of speech ruining ‘democracy’ (which America isn’t)? Really you loons???
And my post was just put on hold by AMAC. I guess there is not really free speech on AMAC either.
I have been researching the “troll” comment in the first paragraph of this article. I have not found where he called himself a troll. But there are many instances of the liberal media calling him a troll.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: In internet slang, troll is a person who posts inflammatory, insincere, digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.), a newsgroup, forum, chat room, online video game, or blog), with the intent of provoking readers into displaying emotional responses, manipulating others’ perception
I thought this was correct when I looked it up. But now, I think it must be different than that. It is “anyone that disagrees with another dictates as fact” is a troll.
Now, I cannot see why he is worried about “free speech”. The liberals seems to be able to say whatever they want and call people names. I guess he saying he does not like “one sided” speech.
But that is the problem with free speech. Everyone can have a different opinion.
Is the tweets that say Trump lost” a troll? I noticed a lot of twitter tweets like that. The MSM pushed it. But they are not called trolls. They said the the Hunter Biden laptop was misinformation. Are they not trolls for putting this dis-information out?
It is a crazy world we live in.
The real name of the game we need to play is “communication”. And communication does not work if it is only one-sided.
Maybe Elon can tell me what is really going on here.
The left is in the process of starting WWIII and ruining the world, especially USA. Keep your eyes to the sky……..If it happens, their power and money is gone…..Ha!
Why doesn’t the left ever mention billionaire George Soros when it comes to the destruction of a free society?
The left will rain down on Elon Musk; he makes too much sense for them. The left and many Dems are nothing more than HATERS and mean girls. Very mean!!!
hope he buys it and shuts the damn thing down so he can claim it was a useless forum. I have never used it and never willl. Fakebook is allmost as bad
What planet are these communist leftists living on thinking that if Elon restores free speech on Twitter it will be the end of the world? It’s actually very comical and I’m enjoying all of their freak outs. They’re all a bunch of lunatics.
Let the liberal meltdowns begin!!!!! LMAO
I have been enjoying watching the reactions from both sides of the argument. I stopped using Twitter when they started nitpicking comments for specific wording but allowed bullying attacks to continue even when complaints were made about the post comments made by those accepted individuals using the same exact wording. I am a firm believer that if you have a rule in place then no one is exempt to ignore the consequences of breaking the rules. Also since Twitter is a publicly owned company, I am surprised and laughing that the shareholders are perfectly fine losing money ( profit) to soothe their “injured” feelings especially if that’s where they have invested money. Just shows how removed from reality they are. Twitter needs to stop being a single viewpoint media post site. If they want to “monitor “ post then they can “ enforce “ formal speech rules instead of critical “interpretation” of wording with a one-sided meaning. Let the idiots in charge lose a few billion dollars as it’s only chump change for them right now all the way to total loss.
Vanguard, along with Blackrock and State Street Bank, are among the wealthiest corporations that have controlling interest in virtually ALL major corporations, and are financiers of the Deep State. Another (plausible) theory is that Twitter is not a viable to turn a profit without being subsidized to defray it’s massive technological overhead, and that subsidy comes from the US Government. Might this may be the reason for panic? Think about it, if true, this means it was actually the government that silenced President Trump!
the Left doesn’t appear to be terrified of anything! they haven’t paid any real criminal price for any of their treachery. the evidence is elon musk makes cars nobody wants (all e-cars account for only 9% of worldwide market car sales) and then he takes a huge part of his $250 billion of net worth FROM OUR INDIVIDUAL NET WORTH POCKETS in the form subsidies (from the taxes we pay to “our government”) and NOW he’s a good guy? a “poison pill” threat from the TWITS owners is really an ineffective window-dressing-defense aimed at ignorant shareholders and the unsavvy public in order to give his offer a credible/real appearance. right now “musk-melon” looks like he’s is being used as a pressure-defector by lawmakers who have been feeling the heat for years from us to make social media (which has proven itself to be a great totalitarian “tool” for communism/globalism) adhere to the FIRST AMENDMENT. the real story is how much are our legislators being paid to look the other way.
I think Musk is one of the greatest persons in American history, in human history.
DIMMs always accuse others of THEIR sins (it’s called projection). These NUTS say more free speech is a threat to democracy!!?? They are the cancellers and censors!
YOU DONT HAVE TO BE A WEATHERMAN TO KNOW WHICH WAY THE WIND BLOWS RIGHT?
I don’t think they are scared, uncomfortable and irritated perhaps he did not denounced them nor did he embraced conservatives he just would like to perhaps have one foot in one camp and the other a little bit in another and we do not know what his ideas of free speech are I think he is watching where the wind blows and is well aware which side of bread has butter on he is looking after #1
THE LEFT SHOULD BE SCARED AND THEY SHOULD BE EMPTYING THE COLLECTIVE END OF THEIR DIGESTIVE TRACTS. THIS COULD BE ONE OF THE MOST OUTSTANDING MAJOR KICKS TO A SENSITIVE BODY AREA EVER.
Musk has put twitter & the leftists squatting in the white house in a perilous position. They know if he takes over, he’ll see the corruption, election fraud, and criminal activities that twitter engaged in to fraudulently take over the country. Go MUSK!
This is not a new development in America. This fight has been going on since before the Constitution was drafted. Not very many of those who signed the Declaration of Independence died a natural death and they knew they were putting their lives on the line by signing it. So, it’s always been Tories/Whigs, Republicans/Democrats, Liberals/Conservatives. . .and everything in between all those categories. Today, the rhetoric is less costly and more fearful (cowardly), than it was then so, everybody is bold enough to shoot their mouths off and have it heard around the world in less than a New York minute. I ain’t worried: pendulums are always dependent upon gravity and tension force. Something always stops them from swinging too far in one direction – usually a war.
Musk should partner with GAB!!!
Here’ s a thought, people who have a lot of money on the right should band together or individually and start buying up companies at are owned the left leaning weasels, newspapers, broadcast media, and flip the direction of the company or run the business into the ground and use the loss as a tax right off. I can see Twitter, made worthless if they buck him, Ethier way, he wins along with everyone that believes in free speech.
I laugh every time I hear some A–HOLE on the left say the RIGHT is destroying democracy, Question: Did President Trump, try to stop Free Speech, did he try to Kill the Christian faith, did he try to pass more Gun Control, did he Try to import more votes from other Countries, did he try to pass more laws so plan not to be a parent can gut more women of their un-born child and sale the body parts so they can give a kick back to the republicans, The answer is a resounding NO, It’s the weasel Democrats that are destroying democracy.
Lets hope he buy’s it. AOL blocks all my comments. I would like to have my say , and the freedom to say it. Kyle L.
Don’t kid yourself, even though the Left will state publicly that they support our First Amendment right of free speech they really treasure their current monopoly of social media above all else. They will defend the status quo with all their resources. If necessary, they will use all the resources of the federal government to thwart Musk and any other threat to their power. THEY CANNOT LET THE MASSES HEAR THE COMMON SENSE OF CONSERVATISM,, or else people might see through their folly.
Go Elon, Go!
This is so scrutiny it’s unbelievable we have the richest people fighting between themselves over Twitter account that’s how low societie are IT’S ONLY IN AMERICA
At best, Elon Musk is a libertarian who probably leans more left than many conservatives are comfortable with. However, he is a brilliant mind who has played this one masterfully. One way or the other Twitter is toast under their current leadership and business model, such as it is. They know it, Musk knows it, many of us know it and are simply investing in shares taking the gamble that the Twitter board eventually accepts an offer to only turn around and sell for a nice profit.
“…a profile in courage that may cement his place in American history as one of the greatest figures of our times.” Now who’s exaggerating the truth!!! Journalistic BS
The “Left” fears anyone with money who disagrees with their “Socialist” agenda because one doesn’t get rich by being stupid! . . . Lucky maybe but certainly not by being stupid!
Socialism is the biggest threat to our democracy, not Elon Musk. If the leftists were really concerned about our democracy they would not be eroding our constitution and substituting socialist ideology.
Of course the left is terrified of Elon musk. Any level of honesty would destroy the lefties narrative and expose all of their ideas as lies and corruption.
The left will do ANYTHING to stop Musk
Almost makes me want to buy a Tesla!
Givem hell Musk
fjb etc…..
Elon Musk is a significant threat to the Left’s monopoly of ideas on twitter. The Marxists, Socialists, and Communists treat true open dialogue as it its the boogeyman of their form of democracy. They are so crazy and fanatical that they are in horror of the idea that true open dialogue is too much of a threat to their tyrannical, woke ideology. True democracy encourages a free exchange of ideas based on both emotions and logical thought, even between those people who have very divergent ideas and views.
Destroy any site that moderates content. They are un-American.
Destroy Twatter.
It’s not just the Left. There are so-called American’s in our Government that can’t stand the thought that an African-American can feel and understand the First Amendment, with more zeal and concern than they do. And getting found out that they are a part of the swamp, cause the fear of losing a comfortable place to steal and destroy America just for their bank account. Mr.Musk is shaking a tree that all Government is frightened of what will fall to the ground. And well they should be. The times are a changing, and they are changing to the benefit of true Americans.
This is better than soap operas! Watching the left “twits” twitch is so satisfying. LGE! Let’s Go Elon!
Maybe Elon Musk should be Trumps running mate in the elections! With that kind of intellect and common sense, consideration for the people, the world could be in a better place.
Heard the whole Twitter board is dysfunctional
Hooray Elon
Elon Musk is an awesome human being that understand life as how it need be lived. If he ran for President chances are he would win easily.
I am quite sure that there are a great many people like myself cheering Musk on. A conservative thinker on Twitter? Holey Moley!
They should be scared. He has mega dollars to play with and he is not afraid to use that money…something the left has never run up against.
Very well written article with truth and insight. Yes the Left is scared and in full mode propaganda. While Elon want the best for Twitter the Left wants what’s best for radical and liberal ideology. How can it be wrong to have a social platform for all and not just for half the population. Thank You for exposing the bias of the Leftist.
It’s typical of these hypocrites, paint there opponent’s with a tainted brush while there doing exactly what they are accusing you of doing. It’s there playbook and with the corrupt propaganda being forced down our Throat’s every minute by a lying media platform there preventing the conservative viewpoint from even being heard. There destroying our democracy and using Marxist tactics every step of the way. This is being funded by haters of our constitution and our freedoms, George Soros is literally using shelters to fund the progressive socialist movement , literally billions of dollars are being funneled in to destroy our country. With Twitter and other social platforms the left shut down the free voice of the people, all of us are now fully aware of the payoffs that hunter Biden received with no experience or knowledge with foreign countries, and yes the BIG Guy was totally in on all of it, they are using these social media sites to shut down free speech and force feed our citizens with Nazi propaganda, if ELON MUSK is denied this takeover of Twitter than we all know for sure who the real traders and destroyers of democracy really are, actually we all knew this after November 6 2020 when our country was stolen from we the people, they are lying hypocrites and must be removed from power.
The Left is terrified of ALL Truth.
I think the important thing to note here is the reaction of the left to one person standing up to them! What if 10 people stood up? What if a hundred, a thousand, the whole freakin world of sensible non-leftest’s standing up for freedom? It could be a movement. A freakin movement of non-leftest democracy across the whole planet.
MDS (Musk Derangement Syndrome), Twitter employees are dropping like flies, filing for stress leave, claiming PSTD from Elon Musk’s takeover.
I applaud Elon Musk’s bid to buy Twitter! He was not in agreement with Twitter to prevent free speech and favor the Left’s agenda. So, he figured out a way to beat them at their own game and bring free and open debate back to Twitter’s social media site. The art of debate is what helped our fore fathers establish the Constitution! You might say The Federalist Papers and The Anti-Federalist Papers were an early form of social media. Putting thoughts and ideas out there for debate to determine the best end result for all concerned. This is the story of America! Free and open debate! Join me and let’s pray for Elon Musk and his bid to buy Twitter!