Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X and prominent supporter of former President Trump, claimed Monday the social platform will not be allowed to “exist” if Vice President Harris wins the election.
In an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, Musk lamented an advertiser boycott that has plagued the platform since he purchased it for $44 billion in October 2022.
Musk’s X has struggled to retain advertisers since his tumultuous takeover of the platform then known as Twitter.
After purchasing the social media company, Musk rolled back various content moderation policies, began transforming the platform’s verification system into a paid subscription service and reinstated several previously banned accounts, including that of Trump.
Much of this has led advertisers to leave the platform, though in his commentary, Musk suggested the government under Harris would come after him.
“I think if Trump wins, we’ll see, you know, probably most of the boycott lift,” Musk said. “But if Kamala wins, we’ll see that boycott gets stronger, and they’ll friggin’ shut it down. There’s no way that a Kamala puppet regime would allow X to exist.”
“They can sic the [Department of Justice] on you know, and say, like, you know, they’ve got this whole thing about like hate speech, misinformation or whatever, except that they’re the ones pushing the misinformation, but that doesn’t stop them from filing massive, you know, lawsuits and using the DOJ,” he added.
A coalition of advertisers launched a boycott of X over concerns with the platform’s changes.
However, it was disbanded in August after X sued the group for allegedly conspiring to “collectively withhold billions of dollars in advertising revenue.”
Other advertisers have separately halted their spending on the platform over the past two years.
After a series of reports in November 2023 found that X was placing ads for mainstream brands next to pro-Nazi or white nationalist content, several major companies — including Disney, Apple, IBM, Comcast, Lionsgate, Warner Bros. Discovery, Sony Pictures and Paramount — paused their ad spending on the platform.
Musk’s comments about Harris came one day before the election. The billionaire has played an outsized role in the race since he endorsed Trump in July. He has used his massive platform on X and immense wealth to boost the former president, including launching a pro-Trump super PAC.
Rogan, whose show is the most listened-to podcast in the country, has also been a key figure this election. Trump sat for a nearly three-hour interview with Rogan last month. Harris’s campaign also attempted to arrange an interview with the podcaster but ultimately could not agree to terms.
Rogan endorsed Trump on Monday shortly after his interview with Musk. In a post promoting the interview, he said Musk “makes what I think is the most compelling case for Trump you’ll hear, and I agree with him every step of the way.”
“For the record, yes, that’s an endorsement of Trump,” he added.
