Undo-Tweet: Right Wingers Implode Over Elon Musk’s Termination of Twitter Deal
Nikki McCann Ramirez Rolling Stone
Tesla and SpaceX Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk speaks at the SATELLITE Conference and Exhibition in Washington, Monday, March 9, 2020. (photo: Susan Walsh/AP)
11 July 22
The richest man in the world was the great hope for conservatives looking to reshape the social media platform, they’re now devastated
A statement filed to the Securities and Exchange commission by Musk’s attorneys declared that “Mr. Musk is terminating the Merger Agreement,” alleging that “Twitter is in material breach of multiple provisions of that Agreement, appears to have made false and misleading representations upon which Mr. Musk relied when entering into the Merger Agreement.”
It turns out buying a sports car for your midlife crisis carries far less financial penalties than backing out of a $44 billion dollar purchase agreement. The termination of the deal means Musk will likely need to pay a $1 billion penalty, that is if Twitter declines to take him to court and force the $44 billion purchase.
Following the announcement of Musk’s intent to purchase the company, the Tesla billionaire’s own Twitter account became a hub for far-right reactionaries looking to influence the potential new owner of the platform. Now that the deal is seemingly dead in the water, the reaction from those same personalities has been a public mixture of panic and lament.
Elon Musk shatters sycophants dreams, implodes twitter deal pic.twitter.com/c4IUwaNkyV
— Nathan Bernard (@nathanTbernard) July 8, 2022
Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk unpinned the viral tweet announcing his return to Twitter due to “new management” from his profile.
Writer Wesley Yang tweeted that “the purge will be brutal.”
The purge will be brutal
— Wesley Yang (@wesyang) July 8, 2022
This is a reference to what Twitter mods will do now that they are in control and Musk is gone
— Wesley Yang (@wesyang) July 8, 2022
Commentators previously enthusiastic about the deal have latched on to Musk’s dubious public reason for terminating the deal: accusing Twitter of misrepresenting the presence of bots on the platform.
Elon musk is terminating his agreement to buy Twitter: So basically Twitter has a huge amount of spam accounts —way more than they let on — and has gotten busted for it!!!
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 8, 2022
As I said weeks ago spam accounts are probably 50% not 5% of Twitter users. A
BREAKING
— Sebastian Gorka DrG (@SebGorka) July 8, 2022
Twitter lied about the number of Spam accounts on its platform.
Therefore Elon Musk is withdrawing his purchase offer.
Hahahaha. There's no way only 5% of Twitter accounts are spam/bots. . . . Try 25-30% minimum. https://t.co/YdBwL7m1uy
— Ned Ryun (@nedryun) July 8, 2022
Some are still holding out hope that Musk’s filing with the SEC is a strategic ploy to tank Twitter’s stance (Chairman Bret Taylor took to the platform to confirm the company is looking to force the sale via legal means) and discount the purchase price.
BREAKING: @ElonMusk sends a letter terminating deal to buy Twitter
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 8, 2022
It’s heartbreaking to hear Elon Musk is terminating his deal to purchase Twitter.
— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) July 8, 2022
Let’s hope this is a tactic to lower the price. Stocks will tank on Monday when the markets open.
Prediction: Elon Musk still ends up buying Twitter but for a lot less than $44 billion.
— Steve Deace (@SteveDeaceShow) July 8, 2022
Elon Musk has terminated his deal to buy Twitter. But perhaps he’s got something up his sleeve.
— Steven Crowder (@scrowder) July 8, 2022
