Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said he has no plans to leave X, formerly Twitter, even as the rightward turn the social media platform has taken under the ownership of billionaire Elon Musk has prompted many users to flock to rival sites.
On a Thursday episode of Politico’s “Power Play” podcast, Khanna said he uses X regularly, citing his own conversations with Musk on the platform as an example.
“I don’t think that the answer for progressives is to disengage,” Khanna said. “The idea is that in a marketplace of ideas, over the long term, the truth emerges.”
Still, Khanna recognized that moneyed interests have distorted the public sphere and led to the creation of “digital spaces that aren’t equal for everyone to participate.”
“What we ought to be focused on is, how do we create more town hall-like places for conversation online?” he said.
Khanna does not seem to share the view that X has become an echo chamber of the political right, saying that he would need to see data to support that assertion.
“Everything he has said publicly is [that] he believes in free and open speech,” Khanna said of Musk. “And we need to have more platforms. I don’t think X should be the only platform.”
But Khanna said X should definitely be among the spaces that Democrats use to get their message out.
“You want to engage in it just like you want to go on Fox News and you want to go on progressive programs,” Khanna said.
Following Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 election, Musk, a top donor and surrogate for his campaign, has maintained a close relationship with the president-elect. Musk, along with former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, has also been tapped to lead a so-called Department of Government Efficiency with the aim of slashing government budgets.
Democracy In The Balance
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For many of those who oppose Trump’s views and are uncomfortable with the evolution of Musk into a vocal right-wing personality, as well as the prevalence of misinformation and conspiracy theories on his platform, staying on X has become untenable.
One of the platforms that has benefited from the X exodus is Bluesky, which has said it recently surpassed 20 million users.
Still, Khanna told Politico that he would be willing to work with Musk on areas where they can find common ground, including on addressing the “loaded” Pentagon budget.
“If he can help make our Defense Department more efficient and open and transparent, that would be a tremendous achievement,” Khanna said.