Ed Laskos (00:01):
And the Twitter-verse exploding over that controversial tweet posted and then taken down by its new owner, the billionaire, Elon Musk. Musk responding, so the backstory here, to a tweet first posted by Hillary Clinton about that violent attack at the home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Clinton in her tweet saying that the violent attack, in part, bears the responsibility from the Republican party and its mouthpieces, and that led to the controversial Tweet by Elon Musk.
(00:25)
Have a look. It was up for a short time, and then Musk took it down. Musk says in that tweet quote, “There is a tiny possibility there might be more to the story than meets the eye.” And then Musk tweeted out a link to the story that’s tied to the Santa Monica Observer newspaper. A story that’s pushing certainly a controversial conspiracy theory, saying that that violent attack tied to a male prostitute. Investigators shooting down that theory, that possibility, saying it is without merit. It is baseless. But digital social media watchers, seriously, there’s a lot more to the story than this fact really comes down. Their arguing their point that Elon Musk really wants to know more about the 112 million followers he has, and about all the others who are tied with their data to Twitter. Listen.
Karen North (01:08):
He wants to know who’s there and what engages them, what they like and dislike, and how he can then pull them in to make money. And so what he’s done with this, maybe on purpose, but probably not, is he’s tested his own audience and he’s gathered data on the kind of reaction and engagement that he couldn’t have done before.
Ed Laskos (01:30):
As all this continues to play out, we are learning more about that violent attack itself. The prime suspect, 43 year old David DePape is in custody. He is due in court first thing in the morning, facing a long list of charges. Investigators out tonight confirming that that suspect showed up at the home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi early Friday morning, armed with a bag of zip ties with the intention, investigators say, they say that he was intent on tying up Mr. Pelosi. Investigators and police arrive, they find the two struggling over a hammer, and Mr. Pelosi continues to recover from his serious injuries, while the suspect, according to some folks who know him, some relatives, and another relative, a family member, says that he is a man who is troubled by mental illness. As all of this continues to play out though, we are many people talking about the possibility tonight that this might be a new look for all of us at Twitter. What we can expect from that social media platform with its new policies, its new rules, under its new controversial owner. For now, we’re live here at Santa Monica. Back to both you ladies we go.