Elon Musk held up his expensive purchase of Twitter as “priceless” for free speech during a Wednesday interview with 2024 presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
Musk interviewed DeSantis on Twitter Spaces in a glitchy town hall-style event launching the Florida governor’s run for the White House. The billionaire attempted to use the conversation to tout Twitter, which had been purchased for $44 billion in October, as a win for free speech. It was a choice that DeSantis praised.
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“I think what was done with Twitter was significant for the future of our country,” DeSantis said. Musk agreed, noting that “Twitter was indeed expensive, but free speech is priceless.”
Twitter Spaces’ servers dropped out at 6 p.m. after an awkward 20-minute period of Musk addressing the audience and attempting to fix the technical problems. Musk confirmed that he had fired over 80% of the company’s staff, leaving Twitter with a skeleton crew to keep something like Spaces operating.
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“This is feeling a bit like an ad for Twitter, not a presidential announcement,” tweeted Alyssa Farah Griffin, a former Trump administration official who has grown critical of the former president.
This is feeling a bit like an ad for Twitter.. not a presidential announcement.
— Alyssa Farah Griffin (@Alyssafarah) May 24, 2023
DeSantis’s interview was an attempt to bypass traditional media and reach people directly. The Florida governor was joined by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and conservative activist Christopher Rufo, along with other guests.
