Arizona State Rep. Mark Finchem Credits Elon Musk for Restored Twitter Account

Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives Mark Finchem speaks at the “Let the Church ROAR” National Prayer Rally on the National Mall in Washington on Dec. 12, 2020. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

Arizona state Rep. Mark Finchem is crediting Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, after Twitter suspended his account for no apparent reason on Oct. 31 and the company restored it less than an hour later.

He said it looks like Musk came to his defense.

“He said, ‘Let me look into it.’ Forty-five minutes later, he posted that our Twitter feed was back on,” said Finchem, the Trump-endorsed Republican candidate for Arizona secretary of state.

However, it wasn’t clear whether Musk directly intervened on Finchem’s behalf. Musk began firing top executives after he finalized the purchase of the social media platform for $44 billion last week.

Arizona state Rep. Mark Finchem, the Republican candidate for Arizona secretary of state, holds a T-shirt bearing a campaign slogan at a recent political gathering in Prescott, Ariz. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times

Finchem said it appeared that some “leftist” at Twitter shut his account down just eight days before the Nov. 8 midterm election.

He said “of course” it was politically motivated.

“I didn’t even know what we did to offend the political sensibilities of whoever the leftist was that decided to interfere with free speech,” Finchem told The Epoch Times. “I’m very thankful Elon Musk took action, which is what he said he would do when he decided to acquire Twitter.”

Finchem said Musk appears to be “getting rid of people who hate this country’s First Amendment.”

“[There’s] no place for people like that,” Finchem said. “Because here’s what ends up happening: You start seeing these social media platforms becoming regulated public utilities.

“I don’t want to go there. Because any time a government puts its hand on something, it never quite turns out the way you want it to.”

He said he prefers a private-sector solution to the online censorship of conservatives, “and I think that’s what Elon Musk has done here.”

“He’s restored free speech—plain and simple—and he gets the credit for that.”

If Musk’s behavior is a “leading indicator” of his new business model for Twitter, Finchem said he’s all for it.

“I think he will make it so that [Twitter is not controlled] by one group with one voice,” he said. “I think that’s important.”

Finchem’s Democratic opponent in the Nov. 8 election is former Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes.

Unintended Boost

Finchem said the “leftist meltdown” at Twitter over his restored account has given his campaign a political “shot in the arm.”

In less than 24 hours, his 51,000 followers on Twitter had swelled to 71,000, he said. He said there was no explanation other than people are angry over censorship.

“I’m sensing we’re going to see a big red wave,” Finchem said. “Many Democrats will cross over, and they will be very specific about voting for policy people.”

Could there be a November surprise from Democrats?

“It’s too late for that,” Finchem said.