Elon Musk rejected claims that former President Donald Trump subtly influenced his decision to acquire Twitter.
Musk flatly denied Truth Social CEO Devin Nunes's statement that Trump quietly "encouraged" the Tesla CEO to acquire Twitter, a platform that banned the former president last year.
"This is false. I’ve had no communication, directly or indirectly, with Trump, who has publicly stated that he will be exclusively on Truth Social," Musk tweeted in response to a New York Post article quoting Nunes's claim.
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Trump and the Trump Media and Technology Group, which owns Truth Social, "encouraged" Musk's decision, Nunes said.
“That’s why we encouraged Elon Musk to buy [Twitter], because someone has to take on these tech tyrants,” Nunes said during an appearance this week on Fox Business. “Donald Trump wanted to make sure that the American people got their voice back and that the internet was open and that’s what we are doing.”
Nunes's comments apparently reference several supportive public statements made by Nunes and Trump regarding Musk's acquisition of the platform rather than implying direct communication between Trump and Musk.
"We're all for it," Nunes said of the idea that Musk could create a "different" Twitter. "President Trump, basically before Elon Musk bought it, actually said to go and buy it because the goal of our company is really to build a community where people are in a family-friendly, safe environment."
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While Musk has been critical of Truth Social, arguing the website should be called "Trumpet," the platform saw a surge of users within days of Musk's April 25 acquisition of Twitter. Truth Social downloads topped the Apple App Store on April 27.
Trump has stated multiple times that he has no intention of returning to Twitter even if his account is reinstated. but others on the Right have expressed hope that Trump and other locked accounts may be reinstated once Musk, a free speech advocate, assumes control of the company.