Twitter Gains Trust With Republicans, Loses it With Democrats

Musk’s personal politics, policies drive partisan divide

As Musk was engaged in his attempt to purchase Twitter, he was also undergoing a public political transformation. About one month after Musk’s initial bid for the company, the billionaire announced that he would vote Republican, claiming Democrats represented a party of “division and hate.” 

Shortly after Musk completed his takeover of Twitter, he began restoring accounts that had previously been banned from the platform — a move that was viewed primarily as benefiting people associated with parts of the conservative movement who had previously been banned for violating rules preventing hate speech or the spread of election misinformation. 

Musk has also taken issue with different media organizations on Twitter. In December, Musk suspended a number of journalists who had been critical of his leadership, claiming without evidence that they had revealed location information about him. 

Earlier this month, Musk continued his combative posturing toward media he views as left-leaning, removing the verification badge of The New York Times. Musk has also started labeling publicly funded media like NPR as “state-affiliated media,” a label previously reserved for identifying state-operated outlets in China and Russia. The label was changed to “government-funded media,” but NPR and a number of other outlets have decided to quit using the platform over the controversy.

Results are based on daily surveys conducted between Dec. 1, 2021, and April 17, 2023, among an average sample of 35,808 respondents across a total of 486 polls, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percentage point.

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