Trump Skipping Fox News Debate for ‘Tucker on Twitter’ Will Create Headaches For Elon Musk

AP Photo/Seth Wenig

News that Former President Donald Trump is skipping the Fox News debate in favor of an interview on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, with ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson, is set to raise tough questions for a platform with lofty ambitions of turning itself into an everything app that delivers news in addition to a slew of other services.

The move is particularly tricky for X, given both Trump and Carlson’s penchant for conspiracy theories that landed Fox with two defamation suits from companies subjected to lies about their involvement in the 2020 election.

As one cable news insider put it to Mediaite: “Cleary X is the new platform for election denialism.”

The trouble for X is obvious: whereas the first Republican debate is set to be moderated by Fox News anchors Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier, who will seek to keep claims about the 2020 election within the bounds of reality, a Trump interview with Carlson is sure to feature an abundance of stolen election myths that will no doubt go unchecked.

Since being bought by Elon Musk, X has made a 180-degree turn from the moderation ethos that sought to crack down on misinformation and incitement of violence, a change in strategy that has presented ad revenue headaches for newly installed CEO Linda Yaccarino, a veteran of NBC.

The New York Times reported on Friday that Trump would be skipping the first Republican debate, scheduled for August 23 in Milwaukee, after a months-long game of cat-and-mouse. Late Thursday night, Trump took to social media and teased his looming decision to forego the event, writing:

Many people are asking whether or not I will be doing the DEBATES? ALL AMERICANS have been clamoring for a President of extremely High Intelligence. As everyone is aware, my Poll numbers, over a “wonderful” field of Republican candidates, are extraordinary. In fact, I am leading the runner up, whoever that may now be, by more than 50 Points. Reagan didn’t do it, and neither did others. People know my Record, one of the BEST EVER, so why would I Debate? I’M YOUR MAN. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

Trump will now return to Twitter in the first serious way since he was suspended on January 7 after the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, culminating in his attempts to overturn the election he lost to President Joe Biden.

It is no small thing that the platform that once banned Trump for sharing dangerous election lies will now feature an interview between Trump and Carlson, who figured prominently in the case against Fox from Dominion Voting Systems that the network was forced to settle for $787.5 million. Counter-programming has rarely been more Shakespearean.

Trump’s return to X is sure to present challenges for Yaccarrino, who has been eager to shed the reputation of conspiracy theories and hate speech that the platform has earned since Musk purchased it just under a year ago. Top advertisers have fled the platform since — and her hiring was undoubtedly an effort to stanch that bleeding. But this new booking, while a coup for the platform, presents serious problems of its own.

“I wonder how Linda will sell brands against Trump denying the election,” the cable news executive said.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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