Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praises Elon Musk for his Twitter takeover and the release of the 'Twitter Files'

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announces his US presidential candidacy in Boston.

David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised Elon Musk's stance on freedom of speech, per a Twitter Spaces chat.
• Kennedy also praised Musk for the release of the controversial "Twitter Files."
• In the same chat, he compared Musk with patriots who died in the Revolutionary War.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised Elon Musk's work at Twitter during a long-winded Twitter Spaces conversation.

The presidential hopeful called Musk's arrival at Twitter a "breath of fresh air for our country" and praised him for understanding the importance of free expression to American democracy. 

At one point during the conversation, Kennedy questioned Musk on the release of the "Twitter Files," a series of documents that publicized internal information on some of Twitter's content-moderation decisions.

"I can't imagine any attorney for Twitter told you that was a good idea," Kennedy said, referring to the release of the files. "I was so surprised and delighted when you did that on your own."

Kennedy, who is the nephew of former US president John F. Kennedy, went on to tell Musk how much he admired him. 

"I just want to tell you how much I admire you for that, Elon, and how grateful I am on behalf of my country," Kennedy said. "You would come here from another country and be a key instrument for rescuing American democracy and freedom of speech."

Kennedy also compared the Tesla CEO with the thousands of patriots who died fighting in the American Revolution, as Insider's John Cook reported.

A self-proclaimed "free-speech absolutist," Musk declared free-speech a top priority at Twitter under his leadership. In the months following his takeover, the billionaire reinstated several previously banned accounts to the platform.

Kennedy himself has faced an Instagram ban for some of his anti-vaccine comments. Meta, or Facebook as it was known at the time, said in 2021 that it had removed his account for repeatedly sharing debunked claims. However, his account was recently reinstated, The Washington Post reported. 

Representatives for Musk and Kennedy did not immediately reply to Insider's request for comment, made outside normal working hours.

Read the original article on Business Insider

from Business Insider https://ift.tt/0mWru8z
via IFTTT