Montage: MSNBC, CBS, rip into Elon Musk over Elon Musk over interest in controlling Twitter
A number of liberal media outlets criticized the idea of a Musk-owned Twitter, calling it a danger to free speech, among other things.
Liberal media outlets MSNBC and CBS led the charge against Elon Musk in recent days, arguing that a hypothetical purchase of Twitter by the richest man in the world was akin to a "Bond villain" scheme and would create serious negative ramifications for the world.
In perhaps the most pointedly aggressive response to Musk’s interest, CBS "Late Show" host Stephen Colbert knocked the Tesla founder for asserting that Twitter has not been adequately defending or promoting free speech with content moderation policies on the platform.
"Hey you dingaling—Twitter is already an international platform for free speech," Colbert said last week. "You know how I know that? Because nobody at Twitter can stop me from tweeting 'Suck it, Elon Musk,' in every language."’
ELON MUSK TWITTER TAKEOVER WOULD TURN TECH GIANT INTO 'ARENA OF HATE,' DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST SAYS
In this photo illustration, the Twitter logo is displayed on a smartphone with Elon Musk's official Twitter profile. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) (Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Meanwhile, MSNBC repeatedly aired segments critical of Musk. According to Democratic strategist Danielle Moodie, the "homophobic" and "transphobic" billionaire is a "danger" to Twitter and freedom of speech.
"Creating an arena for hate? To me, that's what it sounds like – an opportunity for him to have no consequences, to have no flags," she said Saturday.
On "Katy Tur Reports," the MSNBC host said that there are "real and devastating" consequences for allowing people to lie on Twitter. She added, "It’s kind of funny, Elon Musk wants to buy it but there are massive, life and globe-altering consequences for just letting people run wild on the thing."
On Friday, "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brezinski sat down with Business Insider columnist Linette Lopez and fretted over a possible Musk Twitter takeover, wondering if there was anything that could be done to stop it.
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"Are there any ways to stop him if he wants to buy Twitter? Are there any guardrails around something like this? Because this could be a very dangerous precedent," Brezinski asked as the interview began.
FILE PHOTO: Tesla Inc. founder Elon Musk speaks in Hawthorne, California, U.S. December 18, 2018. (Robyn Beck/Pool via REUTERS//File Photo)
Earlier this month, MSNBC host Joy Reid reacted hyperbolically to Musk’s appointment to Twitter’s board of directors, a decision he later retracted in order to try and buy the company outright. Speaking with political analyst Anand Giridharadas, Reid labeled the Tesla CEO a "bro-fascist" while her guest compared Musk to an arsonist cosplaying as a firefighter.
Giridharadas also knocked Musk’s criticism of government inefficiency and even suggested that Musk is motivated by racism.
"He is building in Tesla, a documentedly racist company, that perhaps reminds him, gives him nostalgic memories of the apartheid in South Africa where he grew up," he said.
Both MSNBC’s Donny Deutsch and CBS correspondent Vladimir Duthiers compared Musk to a James Bond movie villain attempting to take over one of the world’s largest social media platforms.
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In addition to prominent media networks, Musk's campaign to add Twitter to his ownership portfolio elicited strong opposition from prominent liberal Twitter users and company leaders in the past week, prompting the company to implement a "poison pill" move – via a limited duration shareholder rights plan – to stop Musk. Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey promptly called the board "dysfunctional."
Fox News' Taylor Penley contributed to this report.
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