Elon Musk Quietly Invites Don Lemon to Make His Comeback on Twitter After Lukewarm Embrace of Tucker
GDA via AP Images
Elon Musk quickly replied to Tucker Carlson’s video posted on Twitter Tuesday announcing his return to the air on the social media platform and even went so far as to try and lure the other recently fired cable news host to Twitter as well, Don Lemon.
While Carlson did not offer many specifics regarding his impending return, Musk immediately made clear he had not signed any kind of official deal with Carlson and insisted Carlson would be subject to the platform’s content rules just like any other creator – an apparent move to assure Twitter’s advertisers.
“On this platform, unlike the one-way street of broadcast, people are able to interact, critique and refute whatever is said. And, of course, anything misleading will get @CommunityNotes. I also want to be clear that we have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever. Tucker is subject to the same rules & rewards of all content creators,” Musk wrote in reply to Carlson’s clip announcing, “We’re back.”
“Rewards means subscriptions and advertising revenue share (coming soon), which is a function of how many people subscribe and the advertising views associated with the content. I hope that many others, particularly from the left, also choose to be content creators on this platform,” Musk added.
Carlson praised Twitter in his announcement, saying, “Amazingly, as of tonight, there aren’t many platforms left that allow free speech. The last big one remaining in the world. The only one is Twitter. Where we are now.”
Carlson, whose time at Fox News was marred by scandal after scandal, also accused the media of lying to the public in the clip. “At the most basic level, the news you consume is a lie. A lie of the stealthy, highest and most insidious kind. Facts have been withheld on purpose, along with proportion and perspective,” Carlson raged.
Musk, apparently still finding some value in mainstream media personalities, found Don Lemon’s fiery announcement from late April that he had been fired and dropped him a very public message.
“Have you considered doing your show on this platform? Maybe worth a try. Audience is much bigger,” Musk replied to the tweet in the early hours of Wednesday.
Musk’s less-than-enthusiastic embrace of Carlson joining Twitter as a content creator raised some eyebrows. The New York Times noted on Wednesday the dynamics at play which might explain Musk’s position, “Twitter is still dealing with a sharp drop in ad revenue after many national brands recoiled from Mr. Musk’s drastic changes to the social network’s content policies. Openly embracing Mr. Carlson, whose Fox News show was shunned by mainstream advertisers, could further hit Twitter’s business.”
News broke earlier in the week that Carlson’s old 8 p.m. hour on Fox News, which had lost all of its blue-chip advertisers after Carlson accused immigrants of making America “dirtier” in 2018, had regained many advertisers and some 40 advertisers were now looking to invest in the hour.
