Elon Musk has spent years branding himself as a free speech absolutist. On Thursday, he demonstrated exactly how conditional that belief really is. The tech guy is bored, so he wants his president boss to invoke the Insurrection Act for fun. Great America, here we are.
On Jan. 15, an X account named “Insurrection Barbie” laid out a cherry-picked explanation of the Insurrection Act. It was complete with a list of historical invocations and a conveniently elastic definition of “rebellion.” Musk soon picked up on the post and replied with four words: “Time to invoke the Insurrection Act.” He had no concern for constitutional limits. He’s just a billionaire urging the president to deploy extraordinary federal power against a U.S. state.
