Elon Musk received blowback from right-wing activists on Friday after responding “no” to a user urging the new Twitter chief to reinstate conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Almost immediately, right-wingers and members of the far-right called out Musk—who fashions himself a free-speech warrior. “Elon’s free speech claim quickly shown to be bullshit lol,” right-wing YouTuber Tim Poolresponded. “Mask off moment,” Kingsley Cortes, a staffer at the conservative Twitter alternative social media site Gettr, added. Far-right YouTuber Tayler Hansen fumed, “How are you going to reinstate Kathie Griffin but not Alex Jones?” It didn’t end there. “Elon’s idea of free speech, inspired by Chairman Mao,” far-right shock jock Stew Peters commented on Telegram. Right-wing lawyer and YouTuber David Freiheit wrote: “Alex Jones is the litmus test, Elon Musk. Not just on the issue of freedom of speech, but on the issue of not bending the knee to political and judicial intimidation.” On Friday afternoon, Jones appearing on his InfoWars show, was preoccupied with conversations about “psyops” and didn’t return The Daily Beast’s request for comment.
