'The View' blasts 'troll' Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter: 'Free speech of straight, White men'
The liberal co-hosts of ABC's "The View" blasted Tesla CEO Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter Monday, referring to him as a "Twitter troll," and claiming the site would be a place of free speech for "straight, White men."
The liberal co-hosts of ABC's "The View" blasted Tesla CEO Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter Monday, referring to him as a "Twitter troll," and claiming the site would be a place of free speech for "straight, White men."
Musk's $44 billion offer to purchase the largely left-leaning social media company was accepted Monday following weeks of speculation after he initially disclosed his offer to purchase the company earlier in April.
"The View's" Joy Behar discusses Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter on April 26, 2022. (Screenshot/ABC) (Screenshot/ABC)
"So the richest person in the world, Elon Musk, who is also a notorious Twitter troll … won’t have to worry about being banned anymore since he just made a deal to buy the company for $44 billion," co-host Joy Behar quipped, appearing less than thrilled over the purchase.
She then played a video clip of Musk from an interview following the disclosure of his offer to purchase the company in which he described the importance of free speech in relation to Twitter.
"Well, for some reason a lot of people on the right are celebrating this as a big win for free speech. But the left loves free speech too, don’t we?" Behar said after playing the clip.
She turned to co-host Sunny Hostin, who claimed Twitter was "a really horrible place," and that people were excited because Musk was going to "unleash the trolls."
"I think he is saying, ‘You get to say whatever you want. I’m going to take away the guardrails.’ And for me, that is something that is a bit scary," she said.
Hostin cited a 2019 Pew Research study in stating that only 22% of adults were on Twitter across the world.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk (Photo by Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images) (Photo by Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images)
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"So Twitter is not the real world. And in fact … it is predominantly straight, White men," she said. "So when Elon Musk says, ‘Wow, this is about free speech,’ it seems to me that it’s about free speech of straight, White men."
"And so let them have it. Let them just go at it," she added, predicting that Musk's takeover would prompt other social media platforms to come out with "real people" and "real freedom of speech."
Hostin then railed against billionaires she said were "taking over our modes of communication," naming Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' purchase of The Washington Post. She also claimed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took over his respective company, despite him being one of its founders.
"Now you’ve got Elon Musk taking over Twitter. You know, I guess billionaires want to take over free speech, and I’m not here for it," she said.
This April 26, 2017, file photo shows the Twitter app icon on a mobile phone in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File) ((AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
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Later in the segment, guest co-host Amber Ruffin joined Hostin in casting doubt on Musk's ability to "manage misinformation."
"He's absolutely not, because if you have $44 billion, and you use it to buy Twitter, you make bad decisions," she said.
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