Musk, who is also CEO of Tesla ( TSLA.O ), has faced criticism from some groups over his outspoken stance on free speech. They expect his post to increase the volume of misinformation and hate speech on the platform. His tweet on Monday represented the first time the head of a major social media platform has explicitly endorsed a US political party. Musk addressed his message on Twitter to what he called “independent voters,” writing, “Shared power limits the worst excesses of both parties, so I recommend voting for a Republican Congress given that the presidency is Democratic.” President Joe Biden’s Democrats face an uphill battle to retain control of Congress in Tuesday’s vote. Nonpartisan election forecasters and polls suggest Republicans have a very strong chance of winning a majority in the House of Representatives, with control of the Senate likely to be more closely contested. “Hard-line Democrats or Republicans never vote for the other side, so independent voters are the ones who really decide who’s in charge!” Musk added on Twitter, which he bought late last month. Musk has previously said he would vote Republican, but says he supports moderates on both sides of the aisle. In April, Musk said that “for Twitter to be worthy of public trust, it must be politically neutral, which essentially means upsetting the far right and the far left equally.” Musk often comments on US politics. He previously said he was leaning toward supporting Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSandis for president in 2024 and that former President Donald Trump was too old to serve as president again. Reporting by Scott Malone, Rami Ayyub, Kenneth Li and Kanishka Singh. Editing by Howard Goller Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
