Devin Nunes, the CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), has expressed support for billionaire Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter while highlighting the need to protect freedom of speech on the internet.
“Here at Truth Social (a social media platform founded by Donald Trump), both [former] President [Donald] Trump and myself were very supportive of it, because our mission and goal here is to reopen the internet,” Nunes said in an interview with NTD’s “Newsmakers.”
“So whether that is I think, as President Trump said, one billionaire owning Twitter is probably better than all the insane lunatics that were running Twitter as of until a few days ago. And I think that’s kind of where this stands.”
In the interview, Nunes, a member of the Republican Party, was asked about ongoing leftist narratives that free speech is somehow dangerous, and that it threatens the safety of democracy and public officials.
Nunes pointed out that such arguments are “very common” throughout history. When dictatorships emerge, they tend to take control over news media and intelligence agencies while pushing out propaganda, he said.
The TMTG CEO was also asked about leaked documents showing that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) monitored Twitter and other social media platforms after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Nunes said that while he was heading the House Intelligence Committee from 2015 to 2019, “there was always” the rule that powers of the state were to be only used for military and overseas purposes to track down bad actors like terrorists and cyber criminals. Such powers were not to be turned against “our own citizens.”
“If the Republicans are to gain control in the next Congress, they’re going to have to get to the bottom of what the hell happened here, because this is not something that should have been done.”