by Twitter CEO Elon Musk met with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in the Capitol on Thursday, a gathering that targeted on the explosive subject of guaranteeing that Twitter is even-handed in its method to each the Democratic and Republican Parties, in accordance with Musk’s account of the dialog.
Musk additionally met briefly with the highest House Democrat, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), who was assembly with McCarthy across the time that Musk arrived, in accordance with a supply acquainted with the encounter.
“Just met with @SpeakerMcCarthy & @RepJeffries to debate guaranteeing that this platform is honest to each events,” Musk wrote on Twitter Thursday afternoon.
McCarthy, who turned 58 on Thursday, declined to debate the dialog, quipping that Musk was visiting the Capitol merely to commemorate his special occasion.
“He got here to want me completely satisfied birthday,” the Speaker instructed reporters whereas rising from his workplace. “We’ve been mates for years.”
Thursday was not the primary time Musk huddled with McCarthy. In August, he spoke at a Republican retreat hosted by McCarthy in Wyoming, which GOP candidates and supporters additionally attended.
Jeffries had not beforehand deliberate to fulfill with Musk, the supply stated, however McCarthy provided to introduce the pair, they usually spoke briefly as Jeffries was leaving the Speaker’s workplace.
Asked in regards to the dialogue later in the night, Jeffries declined to remark.
Musk’s visit to the Capitol comes at a risky second for Twitter, which is looking for its footing underneath the brand new CEO, who got here aboard lower than three months in the past with vows to eradicate content material moderation insurance policies that conservatives had claimed had been biased in opposition to them.
In one in every of his most high-profile acts as CEO to this point, Musk reinstated former President Trump’s Twitter account, ending a ban that went into impact following the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol. The ex-president, nonetheless, has not returned to the platform he utilized prolifically throughout his tenure in the White House, opting to proceed utilizing his Truth Social platform to relay messages.
Just this week, Meta introduced that Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts would also be reinstated.
Hours earlier than the visit, Jeffries was requested in regards to the choices by Meta and Twitter to reinstate Trump’s social media accounts. The Democratic chief declined to remark particularly, however he’s warned in the previous that the previous president poses a hazard to the nation’s democratic traditions, and he amplified that message on Thursday.
“The threats to democracy associated to Donald Trump converse for themselves,” Jeffries stated.
Musk’s visit to Capitol Hill additionally comes amid hypothesis that the House Oversight and Reform Committee is requesting testimony from former Twitter staff at a listening to subsequent month to debate how the platform dealt with reporting on Hunter Biden.
Republicans have accused Twitter’s former leaders of suppressing, in the months earlier than the 2020 elections, an explosive story involving a mysterious laptop computer laptop owned by President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. Now in the House majority, Republicans are focusing quite a lot of investigations on the contents of the youthful Biden’s laptop computer, in addition to his enterprise dealings overseas.
Axios reported earlier this month that Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), the chairman of the Oversight and Reform Committee, penned letters to ex-Twitter staff who had a hand in figuring out how the New York Post report was offered on the platform.
