What exactly was the thing that made Elon take a huge leap and go from complaining about censorship on Twitter to making a $43 billion offer to buy it? Even for someone as wealthy as Musk, somone with a fortune greater than $300 billion, that’s a good bit of money to spend, so what made him do it?
According to Steve Sailer, a well-known Twitter personality, it was Twitter’s censorship of the Babylon Bee that pushed Elon over the edge and made him do it. Sailer said:
Musk was apparently outraged that the satirical Babylon Bee was banned from Twitter for giving its Man of the Year Award to Admiral Levine of the Biden Administration.
Musk was apparently outraged that the satirical Babylon Bee was banned from Twitter for giving its Man of the Year Award to Admiral Levine of the Biden Administration.
— Steve Sailer (@Steve_Sailer) April 14, 2022
For those who don’t remember, the Babylon Bee’s Twitter account was locked after that hilarious website posted a joke about Rachel Levine, a transgender (female to male) who’s the US Assistant Secretary for Health, being a man.
Twitter, doing its usual thing, locked the Bee’s account after it posted that joke and demanded the Bee take the post down to get its account back. The Bee refused, so now it can’t post on Twitter.
Apparently, that was the last straw for Elon and, as a result, that sent him over the edge and he started working on taking over Twitter. And Sailer, despite being perhaps the one who said it out loud first, isn’t the only one who’s reported on the Bee-Elon connection.
The Bee’s CEO, Seth Dillon, posted about Elon around the time his plan to take over Twitter came into the open, saying that Elon wanted to confirm the facts of the story and then, after hearing what happened to the Bee, said that he might need to buy it:
Musk reached out to us before he polled his followers about Twitter’s commitment to free speech. He wanted to confirm that we had, in fact, been suspended. He even mused on that call that he might need to buy Twitter. Now he’s the largest shareholder and has a seat on the board.
Musk reached out to us before he polled his followers about Twitter’s commitment to free speech. He wanted to confirm that we had, in fact, been suspended. He even mused on that call that he might need to buy Twitter. Now he’s the largest shareholder and has a seat on the board.
— Seth Dillon (@SethDillon) April 5, 2022
Dillon also confirmed that story when speaking to the Washington Times, saying:
“We have had some communication with Musk. He wanted to confirm that we had, in fact, been suspended from Twitter. He reached out to us before he publicly asked his followers if they think Twitter ‘rigorously adheres’ to the principle of free expression. He even mused on that call with us that he might need to buy Twitter.”
Further, emphasizing the importance of the Bee’s censorship to the Washington Times in the same interview, Dillon said:
“I wouldn’t suggest that The Babylon Bee is the sole reason Musk decided to take action. Censorship is pervasive on the platform, and he‘s been concerned about it for some time. But I do think the absurdity of his favorite satire site getting suspended factored into his decision. Perhaps it was the last straw.”
So, while there were certainly other things behind Elon’s decision to try and take over Twitter, it does look like the Bee was at least a main reason, and perhaps the straw that broke the camel’s back and caused him to start the process of taking it over.
By: Gen Z Conservative, editor of GenZConservative.com. Follow me on Parler and Gettr.
This story syndicated with permission from Will, Author at Trending Politics
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