The Facts
- In response to a tweet about how previous Twitter management handled elections, Elon Musk on Saturday alluded to the possible preferential treatment given to left-wing candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in this year’s presidential runoff election in Brazil.
- Musk tweeted: "I've seen a lot of concerning tweets about the recent Brazil election. If those tweets are accurate, it's possible that Twitter personnel gave preference to left wing candidates."
- The victorious Lula got 50.9% of the vote compared to 49.1% for incumbent Pres. Jair Bolsonaro. Although he initially conceded, Bolsonaro later claimed an audit showed around 280k voting machines had malfunctioned, costing him the win.
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The Spin
Right narrative
The woke Twitter staff before Musk's takeover clearly couldn’t stop itself from tipping elections toward leftist candidates, whether it was Lula in Brazil or Joe Biden in the US. It was pretty obvious even before Musk’s tweet that Twitter was biased considering all the Bolsonaro allies who had their accounts suspended.
Left narrative
There was no evidence of fraud in Brazil's election, but Bolsonaro supporters who don’t believe it was legitimate have responded to the results with violence. Claiming Twitter might’ve done something to impact the election only fuels the election deniers who need to be calmed, not stoked. As his reign comes closer to its end, it wouldn't be surprising to see the far-right leader take any measures necessary to retain his power.
Public Figures
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