news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

Our special correspondent in the United States Li Yong ● Our special correspondent Ren Zhong

On the 12th, the Republican presidential candidate and former President Trump and billionaire Musk had a live conversation on the X platform (pictured). The Associated Press said that this "rare" public conversation lasted more than two hours and the atmosphere was very friendly. The Washington Post said that what Trump said that day was similar to his previous speeches at campaign events, such as reiterating that if he was elected, he would "close the Department of Education". The conservative Fox News in the United States believed that this was a "rich" interview. The New York Times said that in order to regain the political focus, Trump wanted to emphasize that he was willing to answer questions. But it is not clear whether this conversation can help Trump win the support of swing voters or benefit Musk - restoring the outside world's confidence in the X platform.

"Digital Trump Rally" vs. "Slack" Interview

The New York Times stated that once Trump and Musk's conversation began, their new friendship was obvious. Musk asked some simple questions, allowing Trump to speak nonstop about content that would help his campaign. For more than two hours, he attacked US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Harris, saying that neither she nor Biden had solved the US-Mexico border issue. Trump also repeated some claims, including that "the 2020 election was rigged" and that the criminal case against him was "a conspiracy by the Biden administration to undermine his (presidential) candidacy." The Atlantic Monthly described this as a "digital version of Trump's campaign rally."

Fox News believes that the two had a "relaxed" interview, with Musk raising some topics to give Trump plenty of time to elaborate on policies such as immigration and inflation. The report mentioned that Harris has been avoiding the media for 22 days. Musk said on the 12th that he was not conducting a "confrontational" interview, but wanted to let "open-minded, independent voters" simply feel the atmosphere and see "what Trump is like in the conversation."

On the 12th, CNN reported the live broadcast in real time. When talking about his assassination last month, Trump called the incident "unpleasant." He recalled that the first question he thought of after lying down was: "How many people were killed?" According to reports, Musk proposed in the interview that if Trump is re-elected as US President, he is willing to play a role in his government to help control government spending. Musk proposed the establishment of a "Government Efficiency Committee" and said he was willing to help the agency. Trump said he would be happy if Musk joined, and mentioned Musk's cost-cutting measures in his own company, calling him a "good cutter." Trump also said that if elected, one of his first initiatives would be to "close the Department of Education and return education to the states." "I bet that 35 of the 50 states will do a good job."

The New York Times said that at the end of the conversation, Musk said, "I was not interested in politics before," and called himself "moderate" or "slightly left-leaning." He believed that listeners in the same group as him should also support Trump. According to X platform, more than 1 million users listened to the conversation on the 12th.

The report commented that the 40-minute delay in the start of the dialogue due to a technical glitch cast a shadow on the event. Musk attributed it to a cyber attack. This reminded people of another political event hosted by Musk last year. The British "Guardian" recalled that at that time, Florida Governor DeSantis announced his candidacy on the X platform, but there were problems such as loud noise, user application crashes, and live broadcast interruptions.

The New York Times said that Costello, a spokesman for the Harris campaign, mocked the technical failure of the X platform and criticized Trump and Musk's views. "Trump's entire campaign is serving himself and people like Musk... They can't even get a live broadcast in 2024."

“Agree on almost everything”

In the view of the New York Times, the conversation between Trump and Musk marked a "remarkable reversal" in the originally cold relationship between the two sides. Musk was once critical of Trump, but his political stance changed as he became dissatisfied with the Democratic Party on immigration issues and the Biden administration's treatment of Tesla.

Shortly after Trump's "assassination attempt" last month, Musk expressed his support for the former president. The Wall Street Journal broke the news on the 12th that Musk's team proposed to mobilize 800,000 voters in swing states to vote for Trump and provide about $160 million in financial support. The New York Times said that Trump has eased his fierce criticism of electric vehicles over the years, and has increasingly said at rallies that he likes electric cars, especially those produced by Musk's company.

CNN described that one of the most powerful people in the world, who was and may be the most powerful person in the world in the future, and the richest person in the world "agree on almost everything". The New York Times said that Musk often praised Trump in the conversation on the 12th. He has proved himself to be a partner in supporting Trump, helping the latter expand his views on the X platform. The platform once banned him from using it because of Trump's remarks promoting political violence. After Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, he restored Trump's account, but the latter basically gave up using it and chose his own social platform "Truth Social". However, on the 12th, Trump posted 8 times, mainly campaign videos. The Associated Press believes that from being banned to having online conversations, what happened on the 12th highlights how much the political landscape in the United States has changed in less than 4 years.

It is not clear how long or to what extent Trump will use Musk's social platform. The Washington Post said that for Trump, using a larger platform will help expand his audience. He has more than 88 million followers on X platform and 7.5 million followers on "Truth Social". A campaign video posted by Trump on X platform on the 12th received 172,000 likes in two hours, while the same video on "Truth Social" received less than 9,000 likes.

EU reminds: The more viewers, the greater the responsibility

The Washington Post believes that if Trump "permanently returns" to X platform, it will be a "major victory" for Musk. Agence France-Presse said that Musk has become "an important voice" in American politics, but he has been accused of "turning X platform into a megaphone for far-right conspiracy theories."

Before Trump and Musk talked, Breton, the European Commission's Internal Market Commissioner, sent a letter to the latter. According to the European version of the U.S. "Politico News Network", The Hill and other media, Breton posted on the X platform on the 12th, "The more viewers, the greater the responsibility." In the letter, he reminded the X platform to comply with the provisions of the "EU Digital Services Act" and ensure that it takes measures to prevent "harmful content related to live broadcasts and other related activities from being amplified." "If it is not resolved, it may increase the risk of the X platform and have an adverse impact on public speech and public safety."

According to The Hill, X Company CEO Icarino responded that this was "an attempt to extend laws originally applicable to Europe to American political activities." The Trump campaign team criticized the EU that day, saying that the EU "should mind its own business instead of trying to interfere in the US presidential election." ▲