Biden's Primary Challenger Banned from Social Media Platform, Then Things Take a Turn When Elon Musk Gets Involved
After posting on Twitter that one social media platform will not allow him to share his message, Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. got an offer he could not refuse from Elon Musk.
“Interesting… when we use our TeamKennedy email address to set up @instagram accounts we get an automatic 180-day ban,” Kennedy posted Thursday on Twitter. “Can anyone guess why that’s happening?”
Would you like to do a Spaces discussion with me next week?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 2, 2023
Musk responded the next day, opening up the option of a Twitter Spaces conversation.
“Would you like to do a Spaces discussion with me next week?” Musk wrote Friday morning.
Kennedy later noted that the time of his Twitter Spaces conversation will be Monday at 2 p.m. Kennedy and self-help guru Marianne Williamson have both declared their intention to challenge President Joe Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Musk assured users that although glitches marred the Twitter Spaces event during which Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced his candidacy for the White House, it will be ready for Kennedy’s event.
System is being upgraded & stress-tested in advance of @RobertKennedyJr interview on Monday!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 3, 2023
Kennedy’s Instagram account was suspended in February, according to CNN.
“We removed this account for repeatedly sharing debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines,” a representative of Meta, which owns Instagram, said at the time.
Kennedy later noted the importance of the event.
“Twitter allows my campaign and me to have a voice. Thank you @elonmusk” he posted on Thursday.
To silence a major political candidate is profoundly undemocratic. Social media is the modern equivalent of the town square. How can democracy function if only some candidates have access to it?
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) June 2, 2023
“@instagram still hasn’t reinstated my account, which was banned years ago with more than 900k followers, he wrote.
“To silence a major political candidate is profoundly undemocratic. Social media is the modern equivalent of the town square. How can democracy function if only some candidates have access to it?” he posted on Twitter.
During a campaign appearance in New Hampshire last week, Kennedy said America needs changes, according to CNN.
“There’s so many Americans who believe that the system now is rigged, the economic system, but also the political system, that the elections are fixed. And we ought to be, the Democratic Party particularly, ought to be making this election a template for democracy to our country and to the rest of the world,” he said.
“In the last three years, there’s been an all-out assault on the Bill of Rights. We now have for the first time, the government participating in censorship, of political dissent, of people who are criticizing federal policies,” he said.
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