With tweets laden with exclamation marks and celebratory hashtags, Republicans on Monday made their mood abundantly clear: They were elated by the news Elon Musk was buying Twitter.
"WELCOME BACK FIRST AMENDMENT!" blared Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., in all caps. A Twitter survey by Sen. Ted Cruz asked if Musk's purchase was a good thing, with the only options to answer being "yes" or "no, I hate free speech." His fellow Texan, Rep. John Carter, signaled his approval with no words at all; three clapping-hands emojis were sufficient.
A pot-smoking, meme-posting evangelist for electric vehicles may be an unlikely hero for conservatives. But the Tesla chief executive's amorphous vow to restore free speech to the social media platform has resonated among Republicans, who see themselves — starting with their de facto leader, former President Donald Trump — as unfairly targeted by Twitter's content moderation efforts.
