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Elon Musk is asking big name liberal TV hosts like Rachel Maddow to move their shows to Twitter to balance out Tucker Carlson

Jun 9, 2023, 19:41 IST
Business Insider
Elon Musk.LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
  • Tucker Carlson shared the first episode of his Twitter show on Tuesday.
  • Days later, Musk was reaching out to Rachel Maddow and Don Lemon asking them to start their own.
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Elon Musk is again asking liberal TV hosts to bring their shows to Twitter, to try to balance out Tucker Carlson.

"It'd be great to have @maddow, @donlemon & others on the left put their shows on this platform," he tweeted Thursday.

"You will receive our full support," Musk added. "The digital town square is for all."

His latest plea comes less than a month since he first invited Don Lemon to start a new show on Twitter.

And since it is now his pinned tweet, Musk appears to be committed to this venture.

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When Carlson announced he'd start presenting on Twitter after being ousted from Fox News in April, Musk tweeted a lengthy explanation.

"Tucker is subject to the same rules & rewards of all content creators," he said.

Under Musk's leadership, experts say Twitter has become more sympathetic to right-wing politics, with reports that racist content is on the rise.

The world's richest person has shared anti-trans content on several occasions, and apologized after tweeting a conspiracy theory about an attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband.

So when Carlson posted his first episode to Twitter on Tuesday and spoke about Ukraine war conspiracies, it further pushed the platform's association with the right wing.

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Since Musk's takeover, Twitter has struggled to bring back advertisers – The New York Times reports ad sales are down 59%.

Insider reported Monday that Musk is prioritizing Twitter's live video service. Some advertisers speculate that he wants to make the platform video-centric, which would make sense given CEO Linda Yaccarino's expertise in selling ads alongside video content.

Advertisers will likely be unconvinced if the only face of Twitter video is a right-wing firebrand, with Variety reporting that several advertisers returned to Fox News' 8 p.m. slot after Carlson's exit.

Insider contacted Twitter for comment. The company responded with an automated message that didn't address the inquiry.

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