President Joe Biden’s White House is not as worried about Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover as others and a report is explaining why.
Semafor’s Max Tani reported on Monday that “Joe Biden’s White House is less concerned about Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter than many Democrats,” citing officials.
According to Tani, “That’s because Biden’s team believes Twitter is largely valuable for just two things: Selling its message to journalists and other influential figures. Encouraging friendly activists to put pressure on those elite voice.”
An administration official told the outlet there is a “crowd within the White House that cares about disinformation and thinks it’s a major problem for Democrats narrowly and democracy more broadly.”
They added, “But it’s probably a minority.”
The outlet was founded in 2022 by Ben Smith, formerly of the New York Times, and the former CEO of Bloomberg Media Group Justin B. Smith.
Last month, the president was asked whether Musk is a threat to U.S. national security.
Bloomberg reporter Jenny Leonard also asked Biden if the U.S. should “investigate his joint acquisition of Twitter with foreign governments, which include the Saudis?”
Biden replied, “I think that Elon Musk’s cooperation and/or technical relationships with other countries is worthy of being looked at.”
He added, “Whether or not he is doing anything inappropriate, I’m not suggesting that. I’m suggesting that it’s worth being looked at.”
When asked how that would be done, Biden said, “There’s a lot of ways.”
On Sunday, NBC News pointed out “Washington power users feel conflicted” about using the platform because, “Beyond just patronizing a company with a problematic owner, they are creating much of the content that makes Twitter valuable, making some feel more like collaborators than consumers.”
Still, there are some users who still wish they could step away from Twitter.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) explained, “I wish I could get away from it.”
He added, “And since [Musk’s] purchase, there’s even more vitriol and bullying and hostility and just inhumanity that takes place there. I feel awful as I scroll the things people say.”