Conservatives are ecstatic about Elon Musk’s deal to buy Twitter

With tweets laden with exclamation marks and celebratory hashtags, Republicans on Monday made their mood abundantly clear: They were elated by the news Elon Musk was buying Twitter.

“WELCOME BACK FIRST AMENDMENT!” blared Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.), in all caps. A Twitter survey by Sen. Ted Cruz asked if Musk’s purchase was a good thing, with the only options to answer being “yes” or “no, I hate free speech.” His fellow Texan, Rep. John Carter, signaled his approval with no words at all; three clapping-hands emojis were sufficient.

A pot-smoking, meme-posting evangelist for electric vehicles may be an unlikely hero for conservatives. But the Tesla chief executive’s amorphous vow to restore free speech to the social media platform has resonated among Republicans, who see themselves — starting with their de facto leader, former President Trump — as unfairly targeted by Twitter’s content moderation efforts.

Conservatives said their euphoric outpouring was bigger than the possible return of @RealDonaldTrump and changes to Twitter’s ownership. Rather, they see Musk’s takeover as a symbolic, and cathartic, blow against Big Tech, which the right has increasingly viewed with antipathy.

“There’s a gut reaction from a lot of people, going, ‘You know what, it’s about time they get their comeuppance,’ ” said Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Mich.) “It finally feels like someone is standing up for a principle that has been going in an opposite direction lately: less free speech, less ability to express yourself — if you are a conservative.”

Musk centered his bid for Twitter on the premise that the social media company, which he considers a “digital town square,” is too restrictive in clamping down on expression.

“I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means,” Musk tweeted Monday morning.

Musk’s own politics are idiosyncratic. He’s the foremost face of clean vehicles who called for immediately increasing oil and gas production after the Ukraine-Russia war spiked energy prices. He fled California for Texas because of high taxes but declined to weigh in on Texas’ restrictive abortion law, saying he preferred to “stay out of politics.” He has described himself as politically independent and registered to vote in California with no party preference.