Tech billionaire and new Twitter CEO Elon Musk have promised to manufacture his own smartphones if Google and Apple boot the social media platform out of their app stores. While expressing hopes that he does not ever wish for that to happen, he made it clear that he will make alternative phones if Apple and Google discard Twitter.
Musk made the comment in response to wild speculation made by former OANN host and conservative podcaster Liz Wheeler. As if she wanted to hear Musk say it, Wheeler said on Friday that the best thing for Musk to do was to manufacture his own smartphones if Google and Apple sack Twitter. She stated that it should be easy for a man that builds space rockets to build smartphones.
“If Apple and Google boot Twitter from their app stores, @elonmusk should produce his own smartphone,” Wheeler had tweeted. “Half the country would happily ditch the biased, snooping iPhone & Android. The man builds rockets to Mars, a silly little smartphone should be easy, right?”
Nearly three hours after her tweet, Musk responded that if it really came to it, he would not mind making his own smartphone. “I certainly hope it does not come to that; but, yes, if there is no other choice, I will make an alternative phone,” he stated.
Just like Musk has taken up the habit of running polls on Twitter, Wheeler also ran a poll on whether Musk should own a smartphone brand. Out of the 52,707 votes cast, 56.2% voted “yes” for him to build a mobile device if it comes to it.
Meanwhile, Musk ran a poll earlier this week asking if he should reinstate former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account after it was banned for inciting January 6, 2021, US Capitol invasion. After a majority of pollsters voted in favor of reinstating the account, Musk did so and added that he would be granting “general amnesty” to most people earlier banned by Twitter.
He stated on Friday that it was a “grave mistake” to deplatform a sitting president. Trump however made it clear that he would not be returning to Twitter, despite having 88.7 million followers on the platform before his ban on January 8, 2021. His Trump Media & Technology Group thereafter launched his own social media platform, Truth Social, and he said he would be sticking with it despite his Twitter reinstatement.
“Deplatforming a sitting President undermined public trust in Twitter for half of America,” the new Twitter CEO declared. “I’m fine with Trump not tweeting. The important thing is that Twitter correct a grave mistake in banning his account, despite no violation of the law or terms of service.”