Elon Musk encourages 'independent-minded voters' to elect Republicans

published 7 November 2022

Embattled Twitter CEO Elon Musk on Monday encouraged his more than 114 million followers on the platform to vote for Republicans in Tuesday's midterm elections, claiming that "shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties."

Musk's party endorsement is his most overtly political action since taking the helm of the social media juggernaut just over a week earlier. The message comes one day after Twitter hastily pulled back on plans to launch a paid verification service, which critics feared could lead to confusion and misinformation on Election Day. Instead, the company said it would debut the new user tier after the midterms.

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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.

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