Ever since Elon Musk bought Twitter, now X, the left has railed against him incessantly. Hardly a day goes by without some ponderous op-ed lamenting his influence on digital media and his avid support for President-elect Donald Trump.
Yet, Musk remains a powerful figure in the digital space. Indeed, X has become a prominent hub for people to get their news rather than relying on establishment media outlets that once dominated the media landscape, as journalist Catherine Herridge pointed out.
“The data doesn’t lie.”
30 million engagements on @X versus 4.5 million “viewers” on Network Evening News.@X is where the growth is.
That’s where the diverse audience is.“I feel like this is the next chapter for media.”
Our 22+ minute subscribers only interview also… pic.twitter.com/RVUsFGjvt3
— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) November 29, 2024
But the real reason why the left can’t stand Musk isn’t just because he bought Twitter. It is because of who he is. Musk is essentially the Donald Trump of social media, and the left simply can’t stand it.
There are several similarities between Musk and Trump that are quite obvious. For starters, they both communicate in the same fashion, taking a pugilistic approach to leftist media and other institutions. Remember what Musk said to advertisers seeking to coerce him into suppressing right-leaning content, as his predecessors on the platform had done before he took over? In case you forgot, here’s a short video clip.
Warning: coarse language:
Sounds like something Trump might say, does it not? Love him or hate him, Musk’s response to the advertisers and other critics was quite clear: You’re not going to bully me into acquiescing to your censorious demands.
Both Musk and Trump have entrepreneurial backgrounds, having built successful companies and become quite wealthy. They have been respected leaders in their industries – at least until they decided to no longer align with Democrats.
The two men also have large, devoted followings while becoming polarizing figures in public discourse. They both have the uncanny ability to trigger the left with a simple post on social media. At their very utterance, they can force members of the left-wing chattering class to melt down, frothing at the mouth as they scream about how horrible they are.
Of course, Musk’s political evolution has not helped matters for the left. He once supported candidates from both parties. Yet, in May 2022, Musk announced that he could “no longer support” the Democratic Party, referring to it as the “party of division & hate.”
Shortly after the first assassination attempt against Trump, Musk declared his full endorsement of the president-elect and pledged substantial financial support for a pro-Trump super PAC. Not only do Democrats no longer have Musk’s vote, they also do not have his money, which has certainly rubbed them the wrong way.
But Musk’s worst sin in the eyes of the left was in reimagining X’s content moderation policies, allowing for folks on the right to have a voice. Under the platform’s previous management, establishment left-wing voices were given prominence while its censorship brigade worked behind the scenes to suppress conservative and libertarian viewpoints. The political bias in the platform’s moderation approach was clear to all except those who didn’t want to see it.
Shortly after acquiring X, Musk’s decisions rankled more than a few feathers on the left, especially when he suspended the accounts of leftist journalists.
Musk’s proclaimed stance on free speech and the democratization of media has been a thorn in the left’s side. The notion that one does not have to work for establishment media outlets to be considered a journalist is anathema to folks on the left, who rely on these organizations to disseminate their propaganda. They are absolutely furious that people can fact-check these outlets in real-time without fear of censorship.
If Trump owned X, it might not look too different from how it looks under Musk. This is why the left hates him with the fire of a thousand burning suns.
