Elon Musk encourages 'independent-minded voters' to elect Republicans
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.
Musk's tenure has been marked by a sharp uptick in abusive and bigoted content on the site, prompting a number of businesses to pull advertising from the site. In a brief back and forth with conservative activist Tom Fitton on Monday, Musk indicated he would pursue legal action against companies boycotting the platform.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Between the conversation with Fitton and his call for a Republican congress, Musk also shared a meme of a mid-20th century soldier and carrier pigeons, joking that these were the pre-internet equivalent of "unread messages." As many users on Twitter quickly pointed out, the man pictured in the photograph appears to be a Nazi soldier.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
Quiz of The Week: 15 - 21 February
Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
By The Week Staff Published
-
Tash Aw picks his favourite books
The Week Recommends From Baldwin to Chekhov, the Malaysian writer shares his top picks
By The Week UK Published
-
Properties of the week: flats and houses in university towns
The Week Recommends Featuring homes in York, Durham and Bath
By The Week UK Published
-
Trump seeks to end New York's congestion pricing
Speed Read The MTA quickly filed a lawsuit to stop the move
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump officials try to reverse DOGE-led firings
Speed Read Mass firings by Elon Musk's team have included employees working on the H5N1 bird flu epidemic and US nuclear weapons programs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump blames Ukraine for war after US-Russia talks
Speed Read The US and Russia have agreed to work together on ending the Ukraine war — but President Trump has flipped America's approach
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Musk's DOGE seeks access to IRS, Social Security files
Speed Read If cleared, the Department of Government Efficiency would have access to tax returns, bank records and other highly personal information about most Americans
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Senate confirms RFK Jr. as health secretary
Speed Read The noted vaccine skeptic is now in charge of America's massive public health system
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump lays out plans for broad 'reciprocal' tariffs
Speed Read Tariffs imposed on countries that are deemed to be treating the US unfairly could ignite a global trade war and worsen American inflation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Top US prosecutors resign rather than drop Adams case
speed read The interim US attorney for the Southern District and five senior Justice Department officials quit following an order to drop the charges against Mayor Eric Adams
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Senate confirms Gabbard as intelligence chief
Speed Read The controversial former Democratic lawmaker, now Trump loyalist, was sworn in as director of national intelligence
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published