CNN reporter Brian Stelter said Sunday that the U.S. would experience a “democracy retreat” if Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Donald Trump Jr. bought MSNBC after they joked about buying the network. He argued that it was possible.
musk made a joke X will speak on Friday about the possibility of purchasing land with co-chair of the Ministry of Government Efficiency ask “How much will it cost?” Trump Jr. responded to a post saying he had come up with “the craziest idea ever,” referring to reports that Comcast would spin MSNBC and other cable channels independent. Stelter worried that Musk could shift the left-leaning 24-hour news network to a tone less critical of President-elect Donald Trump. (Related article: 'They hate Trump': Bill O'Reilly says big cable companies are throwing MSNBC 'too much' to protect their reputations)
“President-elect Trump now has the owner of the old platform Twitter, now known as “It's been very carefully scrutinized,” Stelter told “CNN Newsroom” host Cale Tausche. “So, I think this settles it.Social media. So much for the discussion about how important platforms are. I think, for example, over the weekend, Mr. Musk joked that he was probably trying to buy MSNBC. Looks like Comcas. He's not selling MSNBC right now. Maybe things will change in a few years. But these tweets, Musk's posts, and the memes he's posting are exactly what this incoming administration is doing. It speaks to his power and center of power throughout.”
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Musk completed his acquisition of Twitter in October 2022 and reinstated Trump's account the following month.
“When he actually decided to buy Twitter a few years ago, he said, 'How much? Quite casually,'” Tauche said. “So it certainly seems like there's a fair amount of vandalism going on right now, but at the same time Comcast is trying to cut off some of its business that it might be able to acquire at a reasonable price. Do you think it could be more than a joke?”
“Well, there are some people inside MSNBC who are taking Mr. Musk's comments seriously. Whether he's trolling or not, there's a serious undercurrent to this, and it goes something like this: This is exactly what is happening in some countries, where democracy is backsliding and some oppositional news organizations have been captured by the government, a process known as media capture. “, Stelter argued. “Allies of leaders like Mr. Musk step in and buy media outlets perceived to be against them, changing their content to favor those in power. This has happened before in other countries. That's part of the concern, even if Elon Musk is joking, that's part of the concern when it comes to MSNBC. (Click here to watch the Daily Caller documentary “Cleaning Up Kamala”)
MSNBC's ratings dropped more than 50 percent after former President Donald Trump lost the 2024 election to Vice President Kamala Harris. According to to the New York Times. MSNBC hosts and guests routinely tout claims that the 2016 Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government to defeat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California He has repeatedly raised allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in 2016. , on air.
“But right now, this spinoff that Comcast is doing is going to take at least a year to complete,” Stelter said. “I've heard that there's no immediate sale planned. But when it comes to this idea, Musk likes to say, “The most cynical outcome is the most likely.” And in this case, it would be pretty ironic if he controlled MSNBC. ”
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