BUTLER, Pa. — Democratic billionaires can't stand her. Republican lawmakers can't stop investigating her.
But President Biden's Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan may be a new and strange compatriot in the Trump-Vance administration. The bottom half of the ticket says so itself, raising the possibility of a role in which Mr. Khan could collaborate with an even more controversial figure: billionaire tech tycoon Elon Musk.
Vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance spoke to the Post about the possibility of cracking down on Big Tech censorship, with two policy lightning rods in the Trump White House next year.
Vance responded with opera playing in the background as President Donald Trump made his triumphant return to Butler, Pennsylvania.
“On some issues, I agree with them. On some issues, I disagree with both of them,” he began, seeming amused by the question.
“What unites the Republican ticket is a sense that we have to get back to common sense and that it's okay to disagree with each other,” Vance continued, pointing out that former Democrat Robert F. Kennedy He mentioned Trump supporters, such as Junior, who have a variety of worldviews. Republican politicians including Tulsi Gabbard, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley also participated.
“Sometimes there can be strong disagreements about issues, and we want to encourage that disagreement because we believe the best ideas will rise to the top.”
But what has historically not united the Republican Party is its affinity for antitrust law, which sets Mr. Vance apart.
In recent days, several House Republican committee chairs have accused Mr. Khan of overstepping antitrust laws and wasting taxpayer money. Campaigning with the Democratic Party.
The Republican Party has long been the party of business, but Mr. Vance is leading a new conservative vanguard aimed at checking corporate power, particularly that of Big Tech.
These “Khan conservatives,” including Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, are challenging monopolies and the FTC chairman's efforts to expand the scope of U.S. antitrust powers. is supported. They believe the FTC's mission is not only to keep prices low for consumers, but also to foster competition and innovation.
Because some Republican voters prioritize election integrity, Mr. Vance wants to crack down on Big Tech censorship that he believes silences conservatives, and Mr. Khan has a secret weapon to do that. There is a possibility that it will become.
“I think Lina Khan is one of the few people in the Biden administration who I think is doing a pretty good job,” Vance said. said in February At the antitrust meeting.
Based on Trump-era antitrust investigations into Big Tech, Khan's F.T.C. sued Amazon To put pressure on sellers and give preferential treatment to their services in their own marketplaces and metas Acquire a social media competitor Instagram and WhatsApp.
Mr. Vance, a former venture capitalist, shares Mr. Khan's vision of breaking up big technology companies that stifle smaller rivals.
“She's understandably concerned about some of the big tech companies and the concentration of power,” Vance said. I said this summer before praising Mr. Khan for not using government institutions to advance a woke agenda.
Vance's views have helped fund the political rise of some of Silicon Valley's “small tech” companies and venture capitalists, particularly his former employer, a billionaire technology entrepreneur and Ohio state senator. It's music to Peter Thiel's ears.
vance repeated phone calls He broke up Google in August, urging Thiel, co-founder of online payment system PayPal and data analysis group Palantir, to “stand off the sidelines” and donate to the Trump campaign.
Vance, a conservative, also wants to crack down on Big Tech's censorship through antitrust laws.
“It's been a long time coming, but it's time to break up Google,” Vance said. tweeted In February, he said, “This is far more important than any other election integrity issue. Monopoly control of information in our society clearly lies with progressive technology companies.”
Vance also criticized Section 230, the part of the law that protects social media companies from lawsuits if they remove third-party posts with “wrong political views.”
That's where Elon Musk appears. He praised Mr. Trump's choice of Mr. Vance, pledged $45 million to the pro-Trump America PAC, and stumbled for the former president for the first time in this month's Butler race.
“Freedom of speech is the foundation of democracy. And if people don't know the truth about what's going on, how can they cast an informed vote? We need freedom,” Musk told tens of thousands of people in Butler.
Musk reinstated Trump's Twitter account, but Paused Restricted links to journalist accounts and media competitors. Khan declined to meet with Musk as the FTC investigates Twitter's data practices.
Still, the billionaire professes free speech absolutism. He aligns with the conservative number 3 They argue that First Amendment rights are “absolutely” not safe.
In August, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted to Congress that the Biden administration had pressured Facebook to censor coronavirus content, and the president's son exploited his father. He said he regrets covering up the Post's article on Hunter Biden's laptop that revealed he was collecting business deals.
Vance points out that the vice president supports such actions.
“Kamala Harris is passionate about censorship because she fundamentally doesn't believe in the right of Americans to speak their minds and say what they believe,” he told the Post. “The biggest threat to democracy in 2024 is Kamala Harris' bizarre obsession with censorship.”
Meanwhile, Harris is under pressure to exit Big Tech.
Last week, Harris' attorney, billionaire investor Mark Cuban, said: Khan should be excluded The prospect of a future Democratic administration comes as the Biden administration's Justice Department is considering dismantling Google's search engine monopoly.
“If we try to break up the biggest technology companies, we're going to jeopardize our ability to be the best in artificial intelligence,” Cuban said. semaphores.
Two Democratic billionaires have previously coerced Harris into making donations. fire khanThat includes LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, who serves on Microsoft's board of directors.
Mr. Khan's FTC is investigating Microsoft's AI dealings and its $13 billion investment in OpenAI, which makes the ChatGPT bot. The study is part of the federal government's strategy to maintain competition in emerging technologies that have the potential to transform American society.
Despite Khan's dislike of the donor class, he still has supporters.
many technology executives supported Khan At a recent “Little Tech for Harris” fundraiser in San Francisco, headlined by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
Progressive lawmakers are also showing support for the antitrust chief.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) tweeted last week that “if anyone approaches Lina Khan, there will be an all-out brawl.”
But if someone comes to visit Khan, she might find a home in the most unlikely of places: the Trump and Vance White House.
