VICTOR JOECKS: Musk buying Twitter could help Democrats

President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats should be elated about Elon Musk wanting to buy Twitter.

On Thursday, Musk tweeted that he had made an offer to buy the social media company. Earlier this month, Musk bought a 9 percent stake in Twitter.

“I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk wrote in his offer letter. He added that Twitter won’t “serve this societal imperative in its current form.”

Musk has vocally criticized Twitter for censoring users and content. The site infamously suspended the New York Post’s account for a story it wrote before the 2020 election about Hunter Biden’s laptop. It also blocked users from sharing the article. As even corporate media outlets have recently admitted, the Post story was true. Twitter also removed Donald Trump’s account — while he was still in office.

“Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy,” Musk tweeted in late March. “What should be done?”

His answer: Buy the company and unleash free speech.

Democrats have expressed discontent over the prospect. But they should be thrilled if Musk’s offer is accepted. Here’s why.

As a presidential candidate, Biden was never very popular. He won because Trump was personally off-putting to millions of swing voters. A major reason for that was Trump’s Twitter habit. Using his Twitter account, he insulted people, picked foolish fights and undercut his allies and own messaging. It was exhausting, and it distracted from Trump’s accomplishments.

Ironically, the best thing to happen to Trump politically was Twitter taking away his account. Now, people can fondly remember the roaring economy and foreign policy successes without continual reminders about his brass personality.

Losing Trump as a foil has been a disaster for Biden. Now, he’s being judged on his own merits, and the results aren’t pretty. His policies have triggered massive inflation. His surrender in Afghanistan made America look weak, hurt our allies and emboldened our enemies. His incompetence has one Democrat consultant warning that November will be a “biblical disaster.”

Biden and Democrats need a miracle. Restoring Trump’s Twitter account is about the best they can hope for. If Trump resumed tweeting, they could try to make his personality a factor in the election. That might move some suburban voters.

The left’s reaction to Musk’s move has been decidedly negative, however. Axios said he “is increasingly behaving like a movie supervillain.” That’s laughable when you consider he’s willing to spend $43 billion to ensure other people can speak freely.

But free speech is what some leftists fear most. They don’t want a debate on, say, whether men can be women. They’d rather have social media companies silence those who acknowledge biological realities.

Controlling the flow of information is the real prize. Even the possibility of doing better in November isn’t enough for Democrats to want their allies to cede that power.

Contact Victor Joecks at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on Twitter.