'We scared Musk and Trump': White Dudes for Harris blame Elon Musk for X account suspension

Founders accuse Musk of censorship following a successful event supporting Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.


Pop Culture & Art July 31, 2024
SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks during a conversation with legendary game designer Todd Howard (not pictured) at the E3 gaming convention in Los Angeles, California, US, June 13, 2019. PHOTO: REUTERS

Two founders of White Dudes for Harris, a political organizing group, have blamed Elon Musk for the suspension of their official X (formerly Twitter) account following a massive fundraising event. 

The event, which raised $190,000 for Kamala Harris’ presidential bid and saw over 200,000 attendees, resulted in their @dudes4harris account being suspended without explanation.

Early Tuesday morning, Ross Morales Rocketto, who co-launched White Dudes For Harris after President Joe Biden exited the 2024 Democratic ticket, posted on X about the suspension, suggesting Musk was behind it. 

“Got @elonmusk scared,” Rocketto wrote, sharing an image of the suspended page. He later added, “Funny how after we had an awesome #WhiteDudesforHarris call... @elonmusk suspended our account as I got hundreds of insults and memes from white supremacist bot accounts that are still active.”

The suspension notice cited a violation of rules against “evading suspension” based on a user report. 

Mike Nellis, another organizer, tweeted about the suspension, suggesting it was a reaction to the group's success. 

"We scared @elonmusk and @DonaldJTrumpJr so much tonight they suspended our account and won't let us back in," Nellis wrote.

When contacted by The Hollywood Reporter, X’s press department responded with, “Busy now, please check back later.” By 12:47 p.m., the @dudes4harris account was reinstated, posting, “WE ARE SO BACK! After a groundswell of grassroots complaints to @ElonMusk from the #WhiteDudesforHarris community, our account was reinstated & we’re allowed to post again.”

Musk, who purchased Twitter in 2022 and rebranded it as X, has promoted the platform as a space for free expression. 

However, his tenure has seen the suspension of several high-profile journalists who covered him.

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