White House officials and Democratic strategists are privately worrying how Elon Musk’s $44 billion hostile takeover of Twitter will affect the 2024 presidential election — especially whether the billionaire will allow former President Donald Trump return to the platform.
Officials within President Joe Biden’s administration are closely watching the deal, according to more than half a dozen advisors to Biden, including two administration officials. Some on Biden’s team are growing increasingly concerned the Tesla CEO will allow Trump and other Republican operatives who were banned from Twitter to return to the platform, these people said, asking on to be identified to speak freely about internal discussions among senior Democratic advisors.
Twitter’s board accepted Musk’s offer to take the social media company private, the company confirmed Monday. The deal is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk said in a statement included in the press release announcing the deal.
Jen Psaki declined to comment on Musk’s bid. Pres. Biden, “has long been concerned about the power of large social media platforms” and that he supports “enacting antitrust reforms requiring more transparency..,” Psaki said at a Monday briefing.
Members of Biden’s inner circle and party strategists are concerned about an increase in misinformation on the platform under Musk’s leadership and ahead of the 2024 presidential election, which could pit Biden against the former president in a rematch, these people said. Former President Barack Obama is among a group of Biden allies privately concerned that Musk’s acquisition of Twitter could lead to a Trump return to the platform, according to a person familiar with the matter.
“Now, Trump will use Twitter to do far more damage to regain power in 2022 and 2024 while Elon Musk has given no indication that he will do anything to stop him,” Mary Anne Marsh, a veteran Democratic strategist, told CNBC.
One strategist close to some of the party’s biggest Silicon Valley megadonors said, “it’s not good” for the Democratic party.
“He’s a great engineer and businessman but I would not trust him with my daughter let alone the millions of people who rely on Twitter for information,” this strategist said of Musk. Democrats could be on the brink of losing both the House and Senate in the upcoming 2022 congressional midterm elections.
Press representatives for Twitter, the White House, Trump and Obama did not immediately return requests for comment. Musk didn’t respond to emails from CNBC on the matter.
Trump and those close to him have been continuing to falsely claim that the 2020 election was stolen, despite officials from both sides of the political aisle, including the president’s former Attorney General Bill Barr, noting that widespread voter fraud did not exist and Biden won the last…
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