Trump Group CEO Backs Musk’s Twitter Takeover

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) speaks at Freedom Tour in Charlotte, N.C., on June 26, 2021. Screenshot via NTD

Devin Nunes, the CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), has expressed support for billionaire Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter while highlighting the need to protect freedom of speech on the internet.

“Here at Truth Social (a social media platform founded by Donald Trump), both [former] President [Donald] Trump and myself were very supportive of it, because our mission and goal here is to reopen the internet,” Nunes said in an interview with NTD’s “Newsmakers.”

“So whether that is I think, as President Trump said, one billionaire owning Twitter is probably better than all the insane lunatics that were running Twitter as of until a few days ago. And I think that’s kind of where this stands.”

In the interview, Nunes, a member of the Republican Party, was asked about ongoing leftist narratives that free speech is somehow dangerous, and that it threatens the safety of democracy and public officials.

Nunes pointed out that such arguments are “very common” throughout history. When dictatorships emerge, they tend to take control over news media and intelligence agencies while pushing out propaganda, he said.

The TMTG CEO was also asked about leaked documents showing that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) monitored Twitter and other social media platforms after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Nunes said that while he was heading the House Intelligence Committee from 2015 to 2019, “there was always” the rule that powers of the state were to be only used for military and overseas purposes to track down bad actors like terrorists and cyber criminals. Such powers were not to be turned against “our own citizens.”

“If the Republicans are to gain control in the next Congress, they’re going to have to get to the bottom of what the hell happened here, because this is not something that should have been done.”

Protecting Free Speech

During the program, concerns were raised about the DHS allegedly using misinformation and disinformation claims to influence content being posted on social media platforms.

While misinformation refers to misleading information that is shared without an intent to deceive, disinformation carries malicious intent.

Nunes said that at Truth Social, they are looking to create a family-friendly atmosphere without any illegal activity on the platform.

However, they draw the line when it comes to expressing religious or political beliefs. The TMTG CEO affirmed that the platform will not censor anyone or ban their accounts for their opinions.

Such a stance is something that has “degraded over the past year-and-a-half at a very rapid pace” on social media, he said. Nunes pointed to the Hunter Biden laptop scandal as the starting point of this degradation when “Big Tech companies went full crash course into the censorship.”

In an Oct. 27 message on Twitter, Musk said that the reason why he acquired the platform is to ensure that human civilization has a “common digital town square” where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner.

He raised concerns about social media splintering into far-left wing and far-right wing echo chambers that will generate more division and hate within society. In a Nov. 2 post, Musk blamed activist groups for attempting to curtail free speech.

“Twitter has had a massive drop in revenue, due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we did everything we could to appease the activists. Extremely messed up! They’re trying to destroy free speech in America,” he said.