- Elon Musk missed Democrats off his meeting agenda when visiting the US Capitol, per Politico.
- Musk said he met with the Dem House leader but reports say this wasn’t a scheduled meeting.
- Rep. Jan Schakowsky told Politico it was “seriously a mistake” and he should return to elucidate why.
Elon Musk arranged numerous meetings with Republicans when he visited the US Capitol but did not schedule any with Democrats, Politico reported.
For the primary time, Musk went to Capitol Hill on January 26.
He arranged to talk with Kevin McCarthy, speaker of the House, and Rep. Jim Jordan, per Politico. He also had a gathering with James Comer, House oversight chairman, Rep. Steve Scalise, and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Politico reported.
Jordan told Politico the meeting with Musk and other Republicans focused on the First Amendment, accusations that conservatives were being censored online, and a review of Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act. Comer also confirmed to Politico that the meeting happened.
Musk said on January 26 he met with Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic House leader, in addition to McCarthy, to make sure Twitter was a good platform to each parties.
Nonetheless, Musk’s meeting with Jeffries wasn’t scheduled beforehand and was more of an introduction, Politico and CNN reporters tweeted, citing the minority leader’s aide.
Following Musk’s visit, McCarthy told reporters: “He got here to wish me a blissful birthday,” Bloomberg reported on the time. McCarthy said the 2 men had been friends for years, per the report.
Democrats told Politico they were unimpressed at Musk arranging meetings only with conservatives.
“I feel it’s seriously a mistake and I feel it might be a great thing to have him are available and explain himself,” Rep. Jan Schakowsky said in an interview with Politico.
Meanwhile, Rep. Adam Schiff told Politico he was “deeply concerned” about how Musk was running Twitter. He said the corporate gave the look of a “vanity project that’s going unsuitable with an explosion of hate speech on that platform.”
Twitter didn’t immediately reply to Insider’s request for comment made outside of normal US operating hours.
Over the past 12 months, Musk has got more involved with political discussions, especially on Twitter.
Despite describing himself politically as “somewhere in the center,” he announced in May he would vote Republican within the upcoming election cycle, after which urged his Twitter followers to elect a Republican Congress. Musk also reinstated former President Donald Trump’s account after it was banned due to tweets through the US Capitol riots.