Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly Twitter), and former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris might attempt to shut down the platform if it doesn’t comply with government oversight.
Both Musk and Kennedy, who have expressed support for former President Donald Trump, shared an old 2019 CNN interview featuring Harris. In this resurfaced clip, Harris criticized social media platforms for allowing millions of users to engage without oversight or regulation, stressing that this “has to stop.”
Musk: ‘Kamala is just a puppet’
RFK Jr. suggested that Harris would push to shut down platforms like X if they didn’t regulate content in line with “government-approved narratives.” He shared the clip on X, writing, “Translation: If they don’t police content to conform to government-approved narratives, they will be shut down.”
However, Kennedy misinterpreted Harris’ remarks, incorrectly insinuating that she was referencing Elon Musk during the interview. Kennedy accused Harris of wanting to suppress free speech if it diverged from government-approved viewpoints, writing, “He [Musk] has lost his privileges. Can someone please explain to her that freedom of speech is a RIGHT, not a ‘privilege’?”
Musk joined the conversation, stating, “This is what she actually believes. Free speech is the foundation of democracy, and the Democratic Party (Kamala is just a puppet) wants to destroy it.”
What does the 2019 CNN clip actually show?
The clip comes from an interview where Harris expressed concerns about President Trump’s use of Twitter and the broader impact of social media on public perception. Harris said, “When you’re talking about Donald Trump, he has 65 million Twitter followers, he has shown a willingness to obstruct justice – just ask Bob Mueller. You can see from the El Paso shooter’s manifesto that what Trump says on Twitter influences people’s views about what they should do.”
Harris further argued that Trump’s Twitter account should be suspended for violating platform rules, adding, “You can’t have different rules for Facebook and Twitter. There has to be accountability for these social media platforms given the influence they wield.”
She emphasized, “They are reaching millions without any regulation or oversight. That needs to change.”