Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO and business mogul eyeing a purchase of Twitter, said he thinks a less polarizing challenger should run in 2024 instead of former President Donald Trump.
At the same time, he defended his position that Mr. Trump should be allowed back onto the social media platform.
“Even though I think a less divisive candidate would be better in 2024, I still think Trump should be restored to Twitter,” he tweeted late Thursday.
Mr. Trump used Twitter to communicate directly to the American people during his pivot from TV celebrity and real estate tycoon to U.S. president. He fired off tweets while in the White House before being banned from the platform in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by his supporters.
Mr. Musk sparked a firestorm by saying he would let Mr. Trump back on the platform once he finishes his acquisition of Twitter. Conservatives are banking on the mogul to be less restrictive in how the platform polices speech.
Mr. Musk also offered his thoughts on the current president.
“Biden’s mistake is that he thinks he was elected to transform the country, but actually everyone just wanted less drama,” Mr. Musk tweeted.
Mr. Musk isn’t the first person to make this observation, as Mr. Biden struggles to pass his ambitious social welfare agenda.
Mr. Biden’s critics, including centrists in his party, say he should focus on crises like inflation and build on wins like the bipartisan infrastructure deal instead of new social spending.
They say his mandate was to bring America together after the helter-skelter Trump years.
Yet Democrats swiped two Senate seats in Georgia during the last cycle, giving the party control of Congress and putting pressure on him to go big on progressive policies.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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