Nobody who works at MSNBC should be accusing Elon Musk of purchasing Twitter as a vehicle to advance his ideological agenda, but All In host Chris Hayes did just that on Tuesday’s edition of Late Night with Seth Meyers on NBC.
Switching from sarcasm to seriousness, Hayes addressed Musk’s purchase of Twitter, “I mean, I'm not in the books, but I think pretty much-- sounds like pretty much -- no, it's been pretty disastrous. I mean, I -- I -- think the thing -- the thing that I actually have -- that has been clarifying for me, I think there was -- first of all, it felt a little bit like an impulse purchase.”
Hayes then added that there was more than an alleged midlife crisis at hand:
I think that what he's been doing with the platform now is actually very clarifying to me because it wasn't about the business and it wasn't an impulse purchase, it was an ideological purchase and as long as there have been rich people, and as long as there have been rich people and capitalism, plus a free press, there have been rich people who buy media outlets for ideological purposes. This is a story as old as time and once I sort of saw it as that, I was like, ‘Oh! That's what this is.’ He -- he wants to own Twitter because he wants to pursue his vision because he's the world's richest man.
Hayes isn’t entirely wrong. Musk does have an ideological commitment to free speech, but the type of ideologically driven media he is referencing is much more like MSNBC. Free speech means people, like Hayes and Meyers, are allowed to disagree with Musk, but good luck being a conservative and getting a show on MSNBC or a comedy show on NBC.
This segment was sponsored by Toyota.
Here is a transcript for the December 6-taped show:
NBC Late Night with Seth Meyers
12/7/2022
1:21 AM ET
CHRIS HAYES: I mean, I'm not in the books, but I think pretty much-- sounds like pretty much -- no, it's been pretty disastrous. I mean, I -- I -- think the thing -- the thing that I actually have -- that has been clarifying for me, I think there was -- first of all, it felt a little bit like an impulse purchase.
SETH MEYERS: Yeah.
HAYES: Like he was at the cash register and there was like a $44 billion social media company.
MEYERS: Yeah.
HAYES: So that was weird, that he -- it was the most expensive impulse purchase of all time. I think that what he's been doing with the platform now is actually very clarifying to me because it wasn't about the business and it wasn't an impulse purchase, it was an ideological purchase and as long as there have been rich people, and as long as there have been rich people and capitalism, plus a free press, there have been rich people who buy media outlets for ideological purposes. This is a story as old as time and once I sort of saw it as that, I was like, "Oh! That's what this is.” He -- he wants to own Twitter because he wants to pursue his vision because he's the world's richest man. The other thing I think is key here is -- you know, I'm one of these people who is A: a Twitter addict, and B: it's, like, partly my job.
MEYERS: Yep
HAYES: It's like if you're, like, working at RJR Nabisco, and you're like, smoking two packs a day, you're like, "Well, it's the product. You know I gotta test it.” It's like, that's sort of me, but that's also Elon Musk. I think he bought it so he could be like, "I'm working.
