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Elon Musk takes @America handle from X user to promote Donald Trump (www.disruptionist.com)

submitted 1 month ago by Stopthatgirl7@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world

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X owner Elon Musk has once again hijacked a rare coveted username from its original user.

This time, however, the takeover wasn’t for the good of X the company, it was so Musk could promote Donald Trump for president.

On Saturday, Musk appeared at Donald Trump’s rally in Butler Pennsylvania. However, earlier that day, Musk began promoting his pro-Trump Super PAC, called America PAC, using a brand new handle @America.

“Read @America to understand why I’m supporting Trump for President,” Musk’s new bio said as of approximately 1:30pm ET on Saturday, Oct. 5.

The @America handle appeared attached to a brand new account setup just this month, in October 2024. However, this rare, one-word geographic handle had already been long registered by another X user more than 14 years prior to Musk taking the handle from them, in September 2010.

According to a person familiar with the situation, X took the handle from the user much like how Musk’s social media company took the @X handle from its original registrant last year.

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[-] Myxomatosis@lemmy.world 225 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I’m not interested in what a drug-addled white supremacist has to say. I’m not allowed to use edibles on my days off because it can put my job at risk but this piece-of-shit uses ketamine, acid, shrooms and cocaine and is still allowed to have expensive government contracts.

[-] Zementid@feddit.nl 56 points 1 month ago

I don't get how anyone can Take Acid and stay a fascist. It creates the quite opposite feelings to hate.

[-] Myxomatosis@lemmy.world 38 points 1 month ago

Same situation with Joe Rogan. He’s a giant pothead but gets to use in Texas which has some of the strictest regulations in the country.

[-] UltraMagnus0001@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago

Some of those drugs will change your brain chemistry permanently or rewire it. They can even make you paranoid and start to believe weird conspiracies.

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[-] sue_me_please@awful.systems 10 points 1 month ago

I used to think this until I met an acidhead who would dose every weekend. Most racist person I've ever met and, if anything, the acid made him more racist.

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[-] grue@lemmy.world 149 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

After this, I don't know what more proof anyone could possibly need that Xitter is purely a right-wing propaganda platform exactly equivalent to the likes of Truth [sic] Social. Anyone who continues to use Xitter supports this behavior. Continued use of accounts like @POTUS or @KamalaHarris or these is effectively an endorsement of equating Donald Trump with America. It has to stop! The platform has to be fully abandoned by every single person, organization, or government entity that isn't fascist; there is no choice now.

[-] ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.com 29 points 1 month ago

Yup, it's the new fascist bar.

Those non-fascist influencers, celebs, and other "must have" content sources for the remaining audience need to talk amongst themselves, decide on a new platform, and leave together. Their audience will see it, momentarily snap out of the inertia, download a new app, and barely notice the difference. Non-fascist politicians and news orgs who have to go to where the people are will have cover and can follow suit. It can be over in a week.

[-] n1ck_n4m3@lemmy.world 148 points 1 month ago

If you're still on Xitter at this point, you deserve all the bullshit you get. That place is a cesspool. You can't swim in the toilet and then pretend to be mad you're covered in shit.

[-] explodicle@sh.itjust.works 36 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

This sends a clear message: if you still have a valuable handle, sell it now.

[-] Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com 33 points 1 month ago

You can’t swim in the toilet and then pretend to be mad you’re covered in shit.

This is one of the best quotes I've ever heard. Definitely made my day.

[-] cultsuperstar@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago

The Other Truth Social.

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[-] foggy@lemmy.world 129 points 1 month ago

Anyone still in Twitter is a clown. It's not different from being on Truth Social.

[-] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago

Indeed. I feel sorry for those people that feel compelled to still be on it for their jobs, or for their side-hustle/main-hustle or whatever, but yeah, anyone still on there just because? I have no idea, unless they are Nazis or Nazi adjacent.

[-] Hobbes_Dent@lemmy.world 82 points 1 month ago

Stealing @America sounds about right up his alley. Just like T Daddy.

[-] YeetPics@mander.xyz 80 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

This is probably the most American thing elon has ever accomplished; taking something that isn't theirs and using it to hurl feces.

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[-] tiefling@lemmy.blahaj.zone 65 points 1 month ago

Imagine a world where this shit was illegal

[-] superkret@feddit.org 86 points 1 month ago

Imagine a world where this shit was irrelevant.

[-] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

It'd be a weird world unless X/Twitter was government run. But at some point we're going to hit the mother of all lawsuits... email is a standard communication medium for folks and lots of people still, and have forever, used @ hotmail, yahoo or gmail addresses.

It will be really fucking interesting the first time one of those companies seizes an address and diverts some critical notification.

[-] Clent@lemmy.world 51 points 1 month ago

I can't wait until Trump loses interest in Musk.

I hope it's the final push over the edge Musk needs.

[-] Breezy@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago

Could you imagine come November trump loses and musk just shots himself to Mars for forever. What a good day that'll be.

[-] Clent@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago

Four words too many on that first sentence.

At this point though, I have a sinking suspicion that Trump is going to win. I hope I'm wrong but I'm in a swing state and it feels more like 2016 than 2020 to me. America is full of ignorant people who are too prideful to realize how absolutely ignorant they are.

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[-] GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 47 points 1 month ago

What a fucking loser honestly

[-] vanontom@lemmy.world 18 points 1 month ago

Fully weaponizing "his platform" to influence the election. Painting a target on his back, making more enemies by the day. (Only this time, it's not just his drug-induced paranoia.) Gambling everything, once again. Accidentally buying "the town square" was his biggest mistake.

[-] JustZ@lemmy.world 36 points 1 month ago

Musk is so disgusting.

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[-] frazw@lemmy.world 35 points 1 month ago

"Let me tell you why I claim to support trump."

The real reasons would never be spoken aloud.

[-] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 16 points 1 month ago

Musk is a moron. So.

I wouldn’t take that bet. Even if ordinarily you’d be right.

[-] EnderMB@lemmy.world 34 points 1 month ago

Honest question from a non-American.

If Trump loses, how much of a case does Harris have of going after Musk for interfering in an election?

[-] CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 24 points 1 month ago

Probably very little.

I'm not up to speed on what Twitter is doing these days outside of what's reported here on lemmy.

Unless Musk starts saying things like "Polls are closing early so don't bother voting because Trump won" or things that will suppress votes, his actions and tweets are going to be categorized as political free speech, which has broad interpretation in the US. Sad, but true.

We, as well as our government officials, should remember that Twitter is not the public town square. It's a dumpster fire that is owned by a private entity that permits users to throw their shit into. That private entity is within their right to do whatever they want within the confines of the law.

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[-] JWBananas@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC

[-] ZMonster@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago

It is unbelievable to me how everyone is just walzing past the fact that a super-pac organizer attended a rally with the candidate.

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[-] Asafum@feddit.nl 33 points 1 month ago

See you don't get it, it's totally fine for musk to take the @America tag and push Twitter for Trump. Twitter was SUPER biased before because you couldn't say the N-word whenever you want. It's not biased at all now because it's completely far right which is obviously the Correct Way to Be™ so it can't be biased.

-dipshits

[-] N0body@lemmy.dbzer0.com 30 points 1 month ago

Can Americans become media-literate quickly? That question could determine the election

[-] corroded@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago

Half of Americans are barely literate at all, forget media-literate.

[-] chronicledmonocle@lemmy.world 25 points 1 month ago

How long before Musk/Trump merges Twitter and Truth? They're basically the same place at this point.

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[-] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 24 points 1 month ago

What an absolute shameless piece of shit.

[-] ApeNo1@lemm.ee 23 points 1 month ago

I don’t need to read @America to know why you support Trump. We all know. All of us know Elon.

[-] intensely_human@lemm.ee 21 points 1 month ago

I was able to shorten the original 4,204-character article to this 140-character summary:

X took over @America and gave the guy @America123_12 instead. Twitter terms allow this. The tag was registered in 2010, inactive since 2020.

[-] HonkTonkWoman@lemm.ee 15 points 1 month ago

You forgot the part about Elon fornicating with a tapir. Pretty critical piece of the story to exclude.

[-] intensely_human@lemm.ee 10 points 1 month ago

Didn’t seem critical to the core narrative. The tapir was fully sober and in heat so I don’t really see how it relates.

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[-] buzz86us@lemmy.world 17 points 1 month ago

Vote for Trump so I won't lose my captive market 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[-] pineapplelover@lemm.ee 16 points 1 month ago

Ah ok so this is what the right meant when they say "Take America Back*

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[-] jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago

You can't beat musk on his own platform, it's long since time to use a big boy one.

[-] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 13 points 1 month ago

But MAH FREEZED PEACH! The world's town square, argle bargle....

-Any given Crazy Uncle Liberty, probably.

[-] Jode@midwest.social 11 points 1 month ago

Do Twitter usernames have value? Could this be considered a massive in kind campaign contribution?

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[-] peopleproblems@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago

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this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2024

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