Date: December 15, 2022
Host: Jim Schneider
Guest: R. Cort Kirkwood
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When Elon Musk said he would make a bid for Twitter, there was an uproar from those on the “left.” Many were concerned how he might upend the company and what might get exposed. Many have left the company while others have been released since Musk has taken over.
In the wake of the ownership change, Musk has called his organization both a social media platform as well as a crime scene. There are revelations that backup previous allegations and that expose what was going on behind the scenes; coverup, disinformation, censorship, shadow-banning of conservatives, and more.
Our guest on this Crosstalk has been covering the Twitter files and his name is R. Cort Kirkwood. He’s a contributing writer to The New American and a former newspaper editor.
Cort began by noting that when conservatives were complaining about what was going on at Twitter with the censorship, the shadow-banning (“tweeting” without getting any visibility) and deleting of accounts, the “left” pushed back by saying it’s a private company so they can do whatever they want. So when Musk bought Twitter, people like Keith Olbermann and Rob Reiner called for investigations. This shows that the “left” never really believed that Twitter was the equivalent of a public bulletin board where people could post anything they want politically. Instead, they viewed it as their playground and only conservatives that were part of the controlled opposition would be tolerated, provided they didn’t cross certain lines.
What’s interesting is that now Musk is being accused of being a member of the “far right” because of what he’s said about Twitter and the issue of free speech. This is in spite of the fact that he voted for Obama, Clinton and Biden.
Cort believes this is just an inaccurate representation of Musk’s politics so that they can continue to attack him when in fact, he’s one of their own although he appears to be an honest leftist who doesn’t believe in letting the Twitter platform do these things to people. Instead, he intends to have Twitter function as an open platform.
Cort also noted that many on the “left,” including prominent Democrats, knew that the leadership at Twitter was operating as an arm of the Democratic party prior to the 2020 presidential election and they knew they’d get caught if Musk dug into the files.
To what extent were the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security involved in the policies and decision making at Twitter? Who was the person that was behind the permanent banning of President Trump from Twitter? Was there any internal push-back to this? Did Twitter influence policy concerning COVID-19 or the vaccines? Cort answers these and other questions and listeners contribute as well.
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