Elon Musk reinstated President Donald Trump’s Twitter account on Saturday night and as I wrote, that caused an immediate meltdown from folks on the left — from people saying they were now leaving because they couldn’t take Trump having a voice on the site to people saying the world was ending. As we noted, it was also just in time for Joe Biden’s 80th birthday on Sunday.
Now, it remains to be seen if Trump will even come back to the site. He has previously said he would not because he’s busy with Truth Social. My colleague Duke is encouraging him to come back. But whether Trump does or not, Musk’s decision was the right decision, if you believe in free speech.
However, now, leftist organizations are weighing in. The next step is they are going to try to crush Twitter and get advertisers to pull out.
Here’s a statement from the NAACP:
Statement from the NAACP, calling on all advertisers to pause all advertising on Twitter after Trump’s reinstatement on the social media platform: pic.twitter.com/nV4o1SyJwl
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) November 20, 2022
Again, for the folks over at the NAACP: Trump called on people to act peacefully, and the only person killed was killed by a Capitol Police officer.
I love the “God help us all” part at the end. Translation: Democratic polls are against democracy! How dare you allow him back if more people want him back? But as I said, I suspect he was letting him back anyway based on free speech, which isn’t up for a popularity contest.
Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League made what sounded like a threat against Twitter over the reinstatement.
For @elonmusk to allow Donald Trump back on Twitter, ostensibly after a brief poll, shows he is not remotely serious about safeguarding the platform from hate, harassment and misinformation. https://t.co/Rf0NjAubpI
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) November 20, 2022
As we've said before, Trump used Twitter to foment intolerance, issue threats and incite a violent attack against the US government. Moreover, he has shown no indication that he would do anything different if given the opportunity.
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) November 20, 2022
When @ADL and other #StopHateforProfit leaders met with Elon Musk on 11/1, he committed to not replatform anyone, regardless of stature, until he installed a transparent, clear process that took into consideration the views of civil society.
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) November 20, 2022
“Civil society” = what folks on the left want. So the 74 million people who voted for Trump and might want to hear from him are outside of “civil society.”
But Musk being supportive of free speech is a “threat to democracy,” according to Greenblatt. So now, not only is Trump somehow a “threat to democracy,” Musk running Twitter is, and he’s asking if it’s time for Twitter to “go.”
.@elonmusk's decisions over the last month have been erratic and alarming, but this decision is dangerous and a threat to American democracy. We need to ask — is it time for Twitter to go?
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) November 20, 2022
Translation: It’s a threat to democracy to have people vote to have views other than the liberal narrative. That seems a very anti-democratic interpretation of “democracy.” If you truly believe in free speech, you wouldn’t want to silence voices, you would believe that your voice will rise above the din. And you surely wouldn’t call to shut down such an important site for public comment, all over the world. If you want to shut down others, it’s a sign that you don’t believe you are right/that you know that your liberal cause is flawed.
Musk fired back, both not wilting and with a little bit of a troll.
Hey stop defaming me!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 20, 2022
Musk acknowledged he knew all the threats were coming. We’ve already reported on the threats from Democratic politicians.
.@ElonMusk should prepare for increased attacks and retaliation from Biden administration, leftist politicians, media competitors, etc.
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) November 20, 2022
This was one of the reasons that Musk came up with the $8 for Twitter Blue in place — he already saw the left would be pushing advertisers and that would mean that you could not truly have speech that wasn’t dictated by what the advertisers would allow. That kind of thing is what will ultimately be able to make the site free. That’s what the left is truly worried about.
People let the ADL CEO have it.
Whether or not you appreciate Trump's comments on social media, the head of the ADL threatening a private company to force them to keep the former President off Twitter, is a far greater threat to American democracy than @elonmusk allowing @realDonaldTrump back on the platform. https://t.co/zQI4tHq3x7
— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) November 20, 2022
An @ADL concerned about hate, harassment and misinformation, especially pertaining to Jews, would be vastly more concerned about @khamenei_ir and @LouisFarrakhan having accounts than @realDonaldTrump. This is irresponsible political grandstanding. https://t.co/bk2T2uubv1
— Rabbi Yaakov Menken (@ymenken) November 20, 2022
Story cited here.