Dem Attacks on Musk Prove Their Support for Free Speech Is Dead
As seen in RealClear Politics
When Elon Musk reached an agreement to acquire Twitter for $44 billion in October, the deal was met with a wave of outrage from the left. Democrats spanning the nation condemned the acquisition, claiming that it was “dangerous” for America. Now, we’re starting to figure out why.
After the release of the “Twitter Files” last week, which documented the censorship of the accurate New York Post report about Hunter Biden’s laptop before the 2020 election, the left is panicking. From bringing former president Donald Trump back to the platform, to shining a light on the corruption that plagued Twitter prior to his takeover of the company, Elon Musk’s commitment to the core American value of free speech is quickly turning into a nightmare for Democrats.
Such reverence for free speech calls to mind the ACLU of old, an organization that would defend any American’s right to free speech, no matter how offensive or distasteful. Free speech is messy, and a public exchange of opinions is often upsetting. But that is OK. Groupthink needs to be challenged. It’s a core tenant of reason.
That’s why the Democrats are doing everything they can to stop Musk in their attempt to sanitize speech. And their efforts are becoming even more desperate. On Dec. 6, it was reported that the city of San Francisco has opened an investigation into Musk for allegedly converting some of the rooms formerly used as office space into bedrooms for employees at Twitter’s headquarters.
The fact that San Francisco is openly targeting Musk shows how far the city’s government is willing to go to quash their political opposition under Democrat Mayor London Breed. This is obviously not a legitimate investigation. It’s an effort to generate bad press for Musk because he’s restoring free speech to Twitter, and uncovering corrupt behavior by the leftist buddies of San Francisco’s top politicians.
It’s also stunning that a government which allows thousands of homeless people to camp on the streets every night has prioritized investigating makeshift bedrooms, rather than attempting to address this crisis currently faced by the city of San Francisco. No wonder residents of the Bay Area are fleeing in record numbers.
But it isn’t only San Francisco’s government threatening Musk. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre recently told reporters that the Biden administration is “keeping a close eye” on Twitter after the Musk acquisition, sparking a wave of backlash. This veiled threat was yet another effort by Democrats in power to intimidate Musk.
The left used to pride itself on supporting free speech throughout American history. But those days are long gone. Rather than allowing ideas to be heard and letting the best of these win out, Democrats have become dependent on selective censorship to silence opposing viewpoints.
Some of the most obvious examples of this occurred during the last few years. Aside from the censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop story just before the 2020 election, countless Americans were banned from Twitter and other social media platforms for daring to raise the possibility that the COVID-19 virus leaked from a lab in Wuhan.
Thankfully, these restrictions were dropped by Musk in November. But rather than celebrating the fact that Twitter users will now be able to speak freely on this important topic, the left is condemning the move. That’s because they have become totally dependent on maintaining a censorious regime in order to stay in power.
What Elon Musk is doing at Twitter will undoubtedly go down in history as an important step toward restoring free speech on social media. However, it’s impossible to change the status quo without making enemies in Washington, and in Silicon Valley.
What we have seen from the city of San Francisco and Biden’s White House, among others, is a blatant attempt to intimidate Musk into silencing the left’s political opposition. Thankfully, he’s not backing down.
Elon Musk must continue to stand strong in the face of these unprecedented attacks. Free speech is simply too important to perish at the hands of Democrat politicians and their Big Tech allies.
For press inquiries, contact Peter Vicenzi, pvicenzi@freedomworks.org.
