Jack White describes Elon Musk’s reactivation of Donald Trump’s Twitter account as “an asshole move”
Jack White has hit out at Elon Musk over the Twitter owner’s decision to reactivate Donald Trump’s formerly banned account following an online poll. The former White Stripes musician called it an “asshole move” on Musk’s behalf.
Prior to purchasing the social media platform, Musk had informed his fans that he intended to reinstate Trump’s account. This was met with criticism after it was revealed that misinformation as a whole had decreased since he was banned from the site.
Therefore, Musk decided to put it to a vote, and the decision was as bipartisan and divisive as expected. Final counts showed around 52% were in favour, while many people ardently against the move even left the platform. However, there were also rumours about whether Musk used the vote to help identify fake bot accounts.
White was one of many public figures outraged by the move. He called the dividing tactic “absolutely disgusting” and continued to slam Musk himself calling the reactivation “an asshole move” in an Instagram post.
White suggested the move was financially motivated, stating: “You come into a ton of money, see the tax bill, despise paying your fair share, and then think moving to Texas and supporting whatever Republican you can is going to help you keep more of your money.”
He added: “You intend to give platforms to known liars and wash your hands like Pontius Pilate and claim no responsibility?” He then also likened the move to Joe Rogan continually hosting “liars like Alex Jones” on his platform.
He continued: “Trump was removed from Twitter because he incited violence multiple times, people died and were injured as a result of his lies and his ego (let alone what his coup did to attempt to destroy democracy and our Capitol).”
“And how about the division and the families broken apart from his rhetoric and what it did to this country,” White asked.
Concluding: “That’s not ‘free speech’ or ‘what the poll decided’ or whatever nonsense you’re claiming it to be; this is straight up you trying to help a fascist have a platform so you can eventually get your tax breaks. I mean, how many more billions do you need that you have to risk democracy itself to obtain it?”
Kanye West also controversially saw his Twitter account reactivated over the weekend. This caused White and a string of other users to boycott. You can check out his full Instagram message below.
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