The
since-deleted tweet was in response to one by former Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton, who blamed the attack on hateful
rhetoric by the Republican Party and linked to an L.A. Times
story about how the suspect promoted far-right conspiracy
theories online.
"There is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story
than meets the eye," Musk replied to Clinton, linking to a site
called the Santa Monica Observer that fact-checkers have
described as a purveyor of hoaxes, including that Clinton
herself had died and been replaced by a body double. The
Observer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Neither Musk nor Twitter immediately responded to a request for
comment.
With fears growing of increasing political violence ahead of the
Nov. 8 midterm elections, Musk's tweet prompted fresh concerns
about how he will handle hate speech and misinformation on the
social media platform, which the outspoken tech and auto mogul
purchased last week for $44 billion.
Advertisers will be watching closely. General Motors Co said on
Friday, before Musk's now-deleted tweet was posted, it was
temporarily halting paid advertising on Twitter after Musk
completed his takeover, and that it was engaging with the
company "to understand the direction of the platform under their
new ownership."
Ad sales accounted for more than 90% of Twitter's revenue in the
second quarter. In a tweet last week, Musk appealed directly to
advertisers, saying that under his watch the social network
"obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where
anything can be said with no consequences!"
The suspect in the Pelosi attack, David DePape, is due to be
charged on Monday with multiple felonies for allegedly clubbing
Paul Pelosi over the head with a hammer on Friday after forcing
his way into the couple's home shouting "Where is Nancy?"
(Reporting by Nathan Layne; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
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