Elon Musk has been saying for months that he is not conservative.
This label has been slapped on the billionaire entrepreneur since he finalized the $44 billion takeover of Twitter in October.
The CEO of Tesla (TSLA) decided to make the microblogging platform a bastion for conservatives, which in turn prompted him in the name of free speech to authorize any tweet so long as it does not violate the law.
This laissez-faire approach has led racist and anti-Semitic remarks and general misinformation to proliferate on Twitter, according to civil-rights groups.
"This is not a right wing takeover, but rather a centrist takeover," the billionaire said on March 6.
-"Crazy theory – maybe I’m just centrist?" he argued on Feb 26, responding to a Twitter user and Tesla fan who said the CEO was playing both sides of the political aisle, with "Right-wing rhetoric with freedom of speech and Twitter. Left-wing with Supercharger network for EVs and [California] HQ."
Musk added: "Also, when did free speech become right-wing?"
'I Keep Forgetting Which Party McConnell Belongs to': Musk
While Musk denies that he -- who voted twice for former President Barack Obama and for Joe Biden, both Democrats -- has become a Republican, the facts are not altogether on his side.
The billionaire particularly attacks progressive ideologies and values such as ESG (environment, social and corporate governance) policy, gender identity, diversity and anti-racism.
His main spats on Twitter are with Democratic senators like Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts), Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York).
He even went so far as to promote a conspiracy theory about the violent attack suffered by Paul Pelosi, the husband of former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D- California), last October. He apologized afterwards.
He, for example, just embraced a false narrative pushed by Fox News host Tucker Carlson claiming that the Jan. 6 rioters who wanted to prevent the certification of the 2020 presidential election results were in fact "sightseers" at the U.S. Capitol. . Basically, Carlson's presentation argued, they were pacifists and were there in peace.
Carlson relies on footage given to him by the conservative House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) who gave exclusive access a Carlson has security footage of the Capitol building during the insurrection. (McCarthy earlier had condemned the violence and denounced the attackers as "un-American.")
The Fox News host then cherry-picked footage to claim that the rioters were actually peaceful visitors who had practically come to visit the Capitol as tourists. He ignored all images of violence, seeking to rewrite the history of what happened on Jan. 6, 2021 at the Capitol.
This false narrative has been condemned by leaders of both political wings including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky).
"It was a mistake in my view for Fox News to depict this in a way that's completely at variance with what our chief law enforcement official here at Capitol thinks," McConnell told journalists on March 7.
McConnell's dissociating himself with the version pushed by Fox News earned the Republican leader many criticisms on social networks. Among the staunchest critics is Musk, who was quick to suggest that McConnell wasn't really a Republican.
"I keep forgetting which party he belongs to," the billionaire said.
'The Public Was Misled'
The comment isn't much of a surprise since Musk has embraced the fake narrative, even promoted it. The billionaire has nearly 131 million followers on Twitter and considerable influence in the U.S. and worldwide.
"This is crazy. The public was misled," the tech mogul commented about one of the clips cherry-picked by Carlson.
The same day he attacked the January 6th Committee, a House panel charged with Investigating the attack on the Capitol.
"Besides misleading the public, they withheld evidence for partisan political reasons that sent people to prison for far more serious crimes than they committed. That is deeply wrong, legally and morally," Musk said, in response to a Twitter user who posted falsehoods about the Jan. 6 committee.
"The J6 Committee: - Lied about how Brian Sicknick died- Lied about Barry Loudermilk taking rioters on a reconnaissance mission- Lied about Josh Hawley running away- Lied about Ray Epps being a credible witness," the user posted.
The billionaire's tweets prompted a flurry of comments revising the Jan. 6, 2021, story.
"America has fallen," commented one user.
"The only “national security threat” the J6 footage produced was that the country would (and now will) continue to see that our own government is not on our side. They’re crooks who care nothing about justice, only their own power," added another user.
"If Republicans don't go full speed into an investigation with the intention to arrest or greatly fine the offenders, then there is no Republican Party. This is an attack on the American people more than it is anything else," another used said.
