Trump's Presidency Yields Lessons for Musk's Twitter Takeover

Musk could create a model for non-progressive executives facing hostile bureaucracies to emulate--in service of our first freedom. Ironically, Twitter's banning of Trump may have served as a catalyst

Trump's Presidency Yields Lessons for Musk's Twitter Takeover

Stop me if you've heard this story before: An irreverent billionaire with elite credentials, yet who is shunned by the elite, takes over an enterprise he plans to transform filled with people shaken by and poised to sabotage him, while under public assault.

The parallels between Elon Musk's bid for Twitter and Donald Trump's bid for the White House are striking, and worth drawing out. The Trump presidency provides lessons Musk ought to heed if he is serious about restoring freedom to the digital public square. If he internalizes those lessons and applies them at Twitter, it will redound to the benefit of the republic.

In a new piece at Newsweek, I draw out this comparison.

As I conclude in part:

…it is imperative that Musk expose the size, scope and nature of Twitter's malfeasance in the way of viewpoint discrimination. Opening up Twitter's algorithms, as he has suggested, would seem to be a part of this process. It would be a great public service for Musk to investigate and reveal in detail Twitter's previous shadow-banning, banning and censorship practices, hold those to account who implemented and executed the policies, and to the extent possible give individuals unfairly targeted—without due process—some kind of redress. The effect of this effort would be three-fold: First, it could pressure social media competitors continuing to engage in this behavior to curtail it. Second, if that is too sanguine, then it might at least give future players pause about engaging in such behavior. Third, such a reckoning is imperative to prevent far worse conduct in the future. Otherwise, the rot will fester.

One of the major reasons the administrative state fought so viciously to kneecap Trump from before his inauguration was that it feared its most corrupt efforts would be exposed—particularly in the national security apparatus, including its targeting of Trump. By constantly putting Trump on defense—well beyond just Russiagate and two impeachments—it made it exceedingly difficult for his administration to find and reveal where the bodies were buried, let alone bring the henchmen to justice. Thus, the Ruling Class' brazen behavior only worsened over time.

If Musk can internalize these lessons and apply them, it could serve as a powerful model for non-progressive executives facing hostile bureaucracies to emulate. More important, it would be a boon to one of America's first freedoms: the right to free speech. In an ironic twist, the de-platforming of Donald Trump, including his banishment from Twitter, may well have been a catalyst for it.

Read the whole thing here.