After news broke early Monday that Twitter was preparing to accept a buy-out offer from billionaire Elon Musk, MSNBC’s Morning Joe was already in panic mode. Left-wing pundit and marketing expert Donny Deutsch warned that it was like “Dr. Evil” was taking over the social media giant and it was upsetting his “tummy meter.”
Following co-host Mika Brzezinski asking for his “thoughts on Elon Musk taking over Twitter,” Deutsch worried: “Yeah, simple equation, I don’t know, to me when the richest guy in the world takes over the most important social media platform, that’s just not a winning formula to me.” He then made this over-the-top declaration: “And it reminds me of the old Bond movies where, you know, Dr. Evil and guys like that, or Goldfinger, were gonna take over the media. I just – my tummy meter says there’s something just not great about this.”
Well, someone better get Deutsch some Pepto Bismol because reports show Musk will be buying Twitter.
Earlier in the discussion, Andrew Ross Sorkin of The New York Times lamented that no hero investor had stepped in to save the social media platform from Musk: “I think we’re at the point where there was no white knight, they looked, there were lots of calls made to others to potentially come in and try to buy. Nobody else wants to buy it, at least at this price, $54.20.”
Of course no one on the MSNBC morning show dared to suggest that Musk himself might be Twitter’s “white knight.”
Instead, Sorkin fretted: “Of course, this is gonna raise all sorts of questions about the role, frankly, of free speech, billionaires and influence, and, yes, whether former President Trump returns to the Twitter platform.”
This is not the first time MSNBC has freaked out over Musk buying Twitter since he first started making moves to acquire the company a few weeks ago. On April 14, afternoon anchor Katy Tur feared “massive life and globe-altering consequences” to Musk’s vow to support free speech if he took over Twitter.
In addition, Axios recently compared Musk to a “movie supervillain” and CBS Mornings claimed that “a lot of people think Elon Musk is sort of like a Bond villain now.”
Morning Joe’s intestinal distress over Musk was brought to viewers by Therabreath and Discover. You can fight back by letting these advertisers know what you think of them sponsoring such content.
Here is a transcript of the April 25 discussion:
9:43 AM ET
(...)
JOE SCARBOROUGH: And regarding Twitter, it looks like, at the end of the day, Elon Musk gave the Twitter board an offer that they just may not be able to refuse. Tell us about it.
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN [THE NEW YORK TIMES]: It’s a fascinating turn in this soap opera. I think a lot of people were counting him out in the beginning. I had great skepticism that he was actually gonna either want to put up his own money or get the financing. He appears now to have that financing. The board, too, was quite skeptical of the transaction.
But I think we’re at the point where there was no white knight, they looked, there were lots of calls made to others to potentially come in and try to buy. Nobody else wants to buy it, at least at this price, $54.20. They started talking this weekend meaningfully and there’s an expectation we could see a transaction very, very soon.
Of course, this is gonna raise all sorts of questions about the role, frankly, of free speech, billionaires and influence, and, yes, whether former President Trump returns to the Twitter platform. So I imagine if and when this deal gets announced, that is the next leg of this conversation.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Alright, also with us, host of the podcast On Brand With Donny Deutsch, Donny Deutsch. First before we go into On Brand, your thoughts on Elon Musk taking over Twitter?
DONNY DEUTSCH: Yeah, simple equation, I don’t know, to me when the richest guy in the world takes over the most important social media platform, that’s just not a winning formula to me. And it reminds me of the old Bond movies where, you know, Dr. Evil and guys like that, or Goldfinger, were gonna take over the media. I just – my tummy meter says there’s something just not great about this.
(...)
