Rand Paul: Twitter will be better place if Musk drives away the 'left-wing crazies'

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Sen. Paul: Twitter will be better place if Musk drives away left-wing censorship

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., responds to Elon Musk joining Twitter's board of directors shortly after criticizing their handling of free speech on 'America Reports.'

Twitter will be a better place with Tesla CEO Elon Musk driving away left-wing censorship from the platform, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told "America Reports" Tuesday.

Twitter announced earlier in the day that Musk will join Twitter's board of directors, after purchasing a 9.2% stake in the company. The move comes roughly a week after the billionaire criticized Twitter for a lack of commitment to free speech.

Paul, an outspoken critic of Big Tech censorship, said he hopes Musk's spot on the board will bring a new "ethos" to the company.

Elon Musk walks from the the justice center in Wilmington, Del., Monday, July 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

"We've already seen some on the left wigging out and saying they are leaving Twitter if Elon Musk is coming. I say, good riddance. If the left-wing crazies trying to censor speech leave Twitter, then it'll be a better place," Paul told co-host Sandra Smith.

ELON MUSK PURCHASES STAKE IN TWITTER AFTER SLAMMING ITS APPROACH TO ‘FREE SPEECH’

"I would say one thing," he added. "I don’t know Elon Musk, I've never met him, but I would say he has cultivated this persona of independence, of being a free thinker, and that used to be what intellectuals respected. It used to be that people on the left or the right, or people of ideas respected ideas. But then we become more and more the authoritarian notion, from the left, [that] that ideas they disagreed with were to be suppressed, and this has been true on COVID… climate alarmism as well, there couldn’t be more than one viewpoint."

This April 26, 2017, file photo shows the Twitter app icon on a mobile phone in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File) ((AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Paul said he hopes Musk encourages the platform to accept the notion of "the more ideas, the better."

"I do respect that Twitter is a private company and has the right to regulate speech. I don’t think it’s a good idea…for the country, but I do think Elon Musk is a good addition to Twitter and a good voice on their board for more freedom of speech," he reiterated.

Still, Paul said the country would benefit from "more competition" with large social media platforms.

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"Everybody should go out and compete," he said.  "The more competition, the freer the speech will be, the more ideas, the more speech, the better."