With a Smile, Musk Roils Twitter Hate From Critics for Reinstating Trump's Account (Newsmax)
By Eric Mack | Sunday, 20 November 2022 10:26 AM EST
Elon Musk's restoring former President Donald Trump's Twitter account was hailed as a "middle finger" to the woke leftists and roiled up talk of mass protests and boycotts.
Among the loudest voices opposing restoring the former president's right to free speech on Twitter were CBS immediately boycotting the social media site, the N.A.A.C.P. president calling for a boycott and divestment protest, and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) "defaming" Musk for doing it.
"I'm disgusted," Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, tweeted in response to chief Democrat rival getting his constitutional right to free speech back.
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt suggested Musk was feeding hate, while hating on Musk's move to reinstate the former president's account – which has yet to even be used and Trump has vowed to never return to using.
"For @elonmusk to allow Donald Trump back on Twitter, ostensibly after a brief poll, shows he is not remotely serious about safeguarding the platform from hate, harassment and misinformation," Greenblatt tweeted.
Greenblatt added a call for Twitter to be silenced, sharing disdain for Musk's new leadership after the billionaire spent $44 billion to buy the platform.
".@elonmusk's decisions over the last month have been erratic and alarming, but this decision is dangerous and a threat to American democracy. We need to ask — is it time for Twitter to go?" Greenblatt tweeted.
Musk merely responded by trolling the troll.
"Hey stop defaming me!" Musk tweeted.
Another anti-hate group hated on Musk and Twitter, calling for a BDS-like boycott.
"Any advertiser still funding Twitter should immediately pause all advertising," N.A.A.C.P. President Derrick Johnson tweeted.
An EndWokeness Twitter user noted the irony of Trump having far greater reach than his primary political rivals:
"Follower count as of this tweet:
@realDonaldTrump: 83 million
@POTUS: 27.5 million
@VP: 13.8 million
@WhiteHouse: 8.1 million"
Another conservative tweeter hailed Musk's bold move in the face of vitriolic cancel culture.
"Elon Musk reinstating Donald Trump's Twitter account is a middle finger to all of mainstream media, woke leftists & Big Tech," Steven Crowder tweeted. "If you claim to support free speech, this should have you smiling from ear to ear."
But perhaps the most eyebrow-raising response was that of a liberal news organization, CBS News, which vowed to halt its official Twitter activity only to restore it anyway.
"In light of the uncertainty around Twitter and out of an abundance of caution, CBS News is pausing its activity on the social media site as it continues to monitor the platform," CBS correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti said in a segment Friday.
"CBS News is leaving Twitter because they hate free speech," Brigitte Gabriel tweeted.
"CBS News is officially leaving Twitter. @elonmusk already cleaning up the misinformation," Hodgetwins, an account for Black conservatives, tweeted.
But, with the busy Sunday morning coming to promote its political content, CBS News restored its ability to reach its followers.
"After pausing for much of the weekend to assess the security concerns, CBS News and Stations is resuming its activity on Twitter as we continue to monitor the situation," the CBS News press account tweeted.
CBS News and related accounts then continued to promote their content on Twitter.