Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has halted the $44 billion Twitter acquisition, said on Thursday that he will now vote for Republicans as conservatives return to the microblogging platform.
Musk, who has nearly 11 million followers since announcing his Twitter takeover last month, has stated that political attacks on him will intensify in the coming months.
“In the past I voted Democrat, because they were (mostly) the kindness party. But they have become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican,” Musk tweeted.
“Now, watch their dirty tricks campaign against me unfold,” he added.
Musk previously stated that in order for Twitter to earn public trust, it must be politically neutral, which effectively means upsetting both the far right and the far left.
Musk, the ‘free speech absolutist,’ who asked Twitter to remove former US President Donald Trump’s ban, has managed to shift the dynamics of Twitter just before the all-important 2022 midterm elections in the US.
According to a Washington Post analysis of hundreds of Twitter accounts, right-leaning accounts, including Republican members of Congress, have gained followers since the agreement was announced last month, while Democratic counterparts’ followings have decreased.
Conservative accounts have seen an increase in followers, while liberal accounts have lost followers, after news broke that the tech billionaire had purchased Twitter for $44 billion.
UPDATE: “A party more moderate on all issues than either Reps or Dems would be ideal,” tweets Elon Musk few hours after showing support for Republicans.
