The former US president slammed the Tesla CEO for his botched deal on Twitter
The richest man in the world has « got into trouble » with a « rotten contract » to buy Twitter which he is now trying to take down, former US President Donald Trump said at a weekend rally as he touted his alternative network Truth Social, calling it « hot as a gun. »
At a campaign-style rally in Anchorage, Alaska on Saturday, Trump said one of the « The highest priorities of a Republican Congress will be stopping left-wing censorship and restoring free speech in America, » before tearing into Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk.
« He got himself in trouble… So he’s another bullshit artist but he won’t buy [Twitter] », Trump said, after mistakenly calling the tech mogul “Leon.” Trump also recalled how Musk would have “told me he voted for me”to claim recently that he is not sure he ever voted for a Republican.
Trump on Elon Musk: "You know, he said the other day, Oh, I never voted for a Republican. I said, I didn’t know that, he told me he voted for me. So he’s another shitty artist." pic.twitter.com/1cBiZsX1BJ
The former US leader, whoever it was, admitted that Musk« might later »change your mind again and buy Twitter after all.« Who the hell knows what’s going to happen? » »
The billionaire and self-proclaimed « absolutist of freedom of expression », Musk, first disclosed a major purchase of Twitter stock in early April, before offering to buy the platform outright, pledging to improve the platform by « defeat spambots and authenticate all humans. » The company’s board initially sought to combat the hostile takeover with « poison pills »but eventually accepted his offer on April 25.
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Musk cancels his Twitter deal
However, on Friday he abruptly called off the $44 billion deal, accusing the social media company of « material violation of several provisions » of the merger agreement. The company threatened to sue Musk to force him to make the deal or pay a billion-dollar severance fee.
“He has a pretty rotten contract. I looked at his contract, not a good contract”, Trump asserted.
Trump was banned almost simultaneously from Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other mainstream social media platforms while still in office, supposedly over fears that his tweets about alleged voter fraud in the 2020 election would pose the problem. « risk of incitement to violence ».
« I would overturn the permanent ban », Musk said shortly before the deal was first put on hold in May, calling it a « Morally wrong decision…and stupid in the extreme. »
Trump, however, insisted he would not return to Twitter even if his account, which had around 89 million followers, was restored. He said he would instead use his own platform, Truth Social, which he again promoted at Saturday’s rally, calling it « hot as a gun. »
