Elon Musk's Twitter Disaster Has Critics Roasting Him Left And Right

In April, billionaire businessman Elon Musk made headlines for his proposed $44 billion buyout of the social media platform, Twitter. At the time, he made a number of (often controversial) promises about the changes he would make as the platform's new owner, most notably implementing his own idea of "free speech absolutism," which would have essentially restricted the number of reasons accounts could be banned, and even suggested former president Donald Trump be reinstated. Many experts agreed that these proposed changes would have resulted in a massive expanse of hate speech and misinformation on the already precarious platform. 

However, things fell apart for Musk on July 8 when he decided to terminate the proposed acquisition, claiming that Twitter had breached their end of the deal by lying about the number of spambot accounts, per NPR. Twitter has since announced it'll pursue legal action against Musk for pulling out of the deal. 

For critics of Musk, his failure to deliver on a promise which dominated the headlines for months is par for the course; for his supporters, this is yet another letdown by a man who has made much of his career out of bluster and talk. In any case, his latest disaster has resulted in critics roasting him left and right. 

Elon Musk likely did not get the reaction he was hoping for from the platform he failed to acquire. "Absolutely stunned by this development that has happened literally every time he's promised something," television comedy writer Mike Drucker tweeted. Another user said Musk's new announcement is "nothing compared to when he backed out of his $6 billion promise to the UN to help solve world hunger," with activist Jack Cocchiarella adding, "If Elon Musk can afford to pay $1 BILLION to NOT buy Twitter, he can afford to pay his fair share of taxes." 

Others have linked Musk's entrepreneurial failure to his personal problems. "Elon Musk pulls out, for the first time ever," wrote journalist Laura Bassett, likely in reference to his unexpectedly large number of children. Another said that this announcement meant the billionaire was "as committed to running Twitter as he is to being a father," likely in reference to his rifts with his children. 

Now, Musk is facing a major legal battle with the social media giant for violating their agreement, per CNN, and Twitter is likely to ask the courts to enforce Musk's acquisition via judicial order. Law professor Brian Quinn told the outlet this might not even be the end of the acquisition, as the deal could still possibly go through, just with a new asking price. So, as is the case with many Elon Musk stories, this one is surely all but resolved.