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--:-- John Bickley: Elon Musk has offered $40 billion in cash to buy Twitter outright. It's important to the function of democracy. It's important to the function of the United States as a free country and on many other countries. What's his plan for the company and how is Wall Street reacting to the offer? I'm John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, April 15th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Once the torchbearers of free speech, many college campuses have since soured on the First Amendment. We examine the trend and what some schools are doing to bring back the free exchange of ideas. And Disney stock sinks as parents and stakeholders respond to the controversy over its LGBT agenda. We look at how the public is responding and what actions state lawmakers are threatening to take. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: After Elon Musk stirred up the tech world, becoming the largest shareholder at Twitter, and just days after turning down a seat on the company's board, the CEO and founder of Tesla and SpaceX has added the latest chapter in the big tech saga. He's now offering to buy the social media giant outright. Here to dig a little deeper into Musk's offer and what it means for Twitter and big tech in general is Daily Wire's Ian Howarth.
--:-- Ian Howarth: So, this is the story that keeps on giving. Early on Thursday morning, Elon Musk made an announcement, ironically on Twitter, in a post that immediately went viral in true Elon Musk fashion. He simply wrote, I made an offer and included a link. Well, that link was a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission offering to buy all outstanding shares of Twitter for $54.20 each. The letter was delivered on Wednesday and is effectively an offer to take Twitter private, giving Musk far more control of the company. Remember, he was the largest shareholder with a 9.2% stake until Vanguard Group upped its stake to 10.3% on Thursday. But Musk's latest offer, valued at well over $40 billion, makes his earlier purchase seem like pocket change in comparison.
--:-- Ian Howarth: Now, did he explain why he was making this move? Yeah, in the letter, he said that instead of, quote, playing the back and forth game, he's moving straight to the end. It's a high price and your shareholders will love it, he said. But he did dive into his thought process a little more, expressing concerns that Twitter has abandoned its original free speech mission. In a letter to Twitter chairman Brett Taylor, Musk said, I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe. And I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy. However since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company he continued He also said that Twitter has extraordinary potential and that he will unlock it Following the announcement, Musk explained his thought process in a TED Talk. Well, I think it's very important for there to be an inclusive arena for free speech. where all... So, yeah. Twitter has become kind of the de facto town square. So it's just really important that people have both the reality and the perception that they're able to speak freely within the bounds of the law. And so one of the things that I believe Twitter should do is open source the algorithm.
--:-- Ian Howarth: So what do we know so far about whether Twitter is going to accept this offer? Well, unsurprisingly, there are a few moving parts here. The first is the impact turning down this offer could have on other shareholders. In his letter, Musk said, quote, My offer is my best and final offer, and if it is not accepted, I would need to reconsider my position as a shareholder. So if he does suddenly sell his stock, this could have short-term ramifications that Twitter would rather avoid, like a crash in stock price. However, Twitter's share price didn't change much following this announcement, So it's not clear that Wall Street believes this is going anywhere, especially since Elon Musk, even though he is the richest person in the world, would have to liquidate other assets to make this purchase.
--:-- Ian Howarth: The second factor is the undeniable fact that this is a strong offer. After all, Twitter is a public company and its board has an obligation to do what's best for shareholders from a pure numbers standpoint. As he said, around $54 represents a 38% premium from the price Musk paid for 9.2% of the company on April 1st. So if Twitter turns him down, they're going to face some objective financial questions as to why. And finally, there's the internal pushback this has sparked, which can only be described as a meltdown. Multiple Twitter employees have expressed concern with some saying that the vibe at headquarters is, quote, super stressed, and some employees are even requesting time off work to process their feelings about all this. There are also panicked responses from left-wing political commentators, with the claim even being made by some that democracy itself is at stake. So when we combine this with recent statements made by the current Twitter CEO, we're going to see a clash at some point. We'll just have to wait to see whether that's financial or ideological or maybe even both.
--:-- Ian Howarth: It's going to be fascinating to see where this goes. Now, before you go, Ian, you worked at a few tech companies before coming over here to Daily Wire. What's your gut reaction here? Yeah, I mean, it's obviously interesting from an outsider's perspective, but the real test is going to be whether this is short-lived or whether this could be the start of a real shakeup in Silicon Valley. If Musk did take control of Twitter, his outspoken views on issues like free speech would signal a massive change in the direction of one of the most popular platforms for online political speech. This also means there is a lot to lose for those who leverage these platforms for their own gain. So regardless of the outcome, I think a fight is coming.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Interesting. Well, Ian, thanks for reporting. Of course. Thanks, Georgia. That's Daily Wire's Ian Howarth.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Coming up, the future of free speech on campus. you can get this show and all of the content you love wherever you are all on the daily wire app even if you're not a daily wire member you'll be first to know what's trending with mobile notifications for the latest news and you'll get content from all your favorite daily wire shows download the daily wire app and keep up with the facts no matter where your day takes you the battle over free speech on college campuses has heated up with speakers routinely being shouted down by angry crowds or facing threats of violence. Here to discuss the state of free speech on college campuses is Daily Wire reporter Ben Johnson.
--:-- Ben Johnson: Okay Ben, we're hearing more claims of speech being policed on campus and described as an act of violence. What are some of the latest developments on this front?
--:-- Ben Johnson: We had some more examples recently of suppressed or at least disrupted political speech For example, on April 7th, protesters at the University of Buffalo in New York tried to shout down former Republican congressman and Lieutenant Colonel Allen West. Members of the organization that sponsored his talk, Young Americans for Freedom, recorded a mob of students chasing organizer Therese Purcell through campus. They're going after Tareem. I know. Purcell called 911 from a bathroom stall while protesters allegedly punched and kicked another member of the group. I was really afraid for my life since they physically assaulted my friend. And like I said, they were screaming no peace. So I don't think they were going to do anything remotely peaceful.
--:-- Ben Johnson: About a month earlier, more than 100 students at Yale Law School disrupted a panel hosted by the Federalist Society on free speech. The March 10th event would have featured a conservative speaker from the Alliance Defending Freedom and a liberal panelist from the American Humanist Association. Those two groups had joined forces to support a First Amendment lawsuit together. One protester told a conservative student, this is a quote, I will literally fight you. Eventually, police escorted the speakers off campus. Yale Law School Dean Heather Gerken wrote in a message to all law school students and faculty saying, quote, this is not how lawyers interact, but no disciplinary measures followed. So even with law students, this is an issue.
--:-- Ben Johnson: Studies have shown that most colleges skew well to the left, but this almost casual acceptance of violence, this seems new. It does seem to be intensifying. About one out of four college students now says it's acceptable to use violence to stop disfavored political speech. But at the same time, it isn't a totally new phenomenon. There are dozens of high-profile examples going back years. As early as October 2004, two protesters at the University of Arizona threw a pie at Ann Coulter. She moved and they missed. One notable example occurred in 2017 when protesters chased American Enterprise Institute scholar Charles Murray out of an event at Middlebury College. Protesters also violently pulled the hair of a female professor who interviewed Murray, pulling her to the ground and leaving her in a neck brace. No students were suspended or expelled, although some received official rebukes.
--:-- Ben Johnson: So colleges have been hostile to speech for a while now, but some schools are finally trying to turn that around. Tell us about that. Absolutely. One of the best examples is the University of Chicago, which sent a letter to all incoming students in 2020 with a forthright defense of free speech. The letter said, quote, freedom of expression does not mean the freedom to harass or threaten others. We do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual safe spaces where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own.
--:-- Ben Johnson: The University of Colorado at Boulder established the Benson Center to stimulate debates between conservatives and liberals. They also host a visiting scholar in conservative thought and policy to assure students are exposed to conservative ideas on campus. Some colleges do a good job of cultivating an ethos of free inquiry. A recent study from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education ranks Claremont McKenna College first in the nation for protecting conservative and liberal speakers on campus. In the same survey, 98% of Hillsdale College students said that the faculty there would likely defend the exchange of controversial views on either side. And of course, the best news is, in spite of the prevailing academic culture, there are students of all ideological stripes who still respect a vigorous exchange of opposing viewpoints. That is good news, and hopefully more schools will make that possible.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks, Ben. Hopefully so. Thank you. That's Daily Wire reporter Ben Johnson.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: A new survey suggests that Disney promise to include more LGBT content in its children entertainment may have seriously damaged the reputation of the company Meanwhile, lawmakers in Florida are threatening to revoke some special privileges that Disney has enjoyed in the state. Here to give us the details on this new polling and how some Florida lawmakers are reacting is Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham.
--:-- Megan Basham: So Megan, let's start with this latest survey. What are the specifics on that?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, I think you have to say that these specifics are pretty brutal for Disney. So Convention of States Action, that's a conservative nonprofit, in partnership with the Trafalgar Group, commissioned this poll of likely voters. And it was actually slightly weighted in favor of Democrats. and carried out between April 4th and 8th. So well after those leaked videos of Disney executives and creators promising more LGBT representation in children's entertainment had kind of seeped into the public's consciousness. Now, the poll asked whether respondents were more or less likely to do business with Disney based on the company's promise to focus on creating content that would, quote, expose young children to sexual ideas. That's how they worded the question. So nearly 70% of all American voters said they were less likely to do business with Disney now. Only 9% said it makes them more likely to buy Disney products and visit those theme parks. I mean, really, a majority of every group said it makes them more likely to support family-friendly alternatives to Disney.
--:-- Megan Basham: I mean, my gut instinct is still that the wording of the survey could have an effect on the results. But still, those are tough numbers for Disney. They are. And you also have to say that none of it is helping the company's stock price, which is down about 26% so far this year. And in addition to that, some Florida Republicans are saying that the time has come to revisit some of those legislative perks Disney enjoys as the largest employer in the state. They're pointing to things like tax breaks and this special carve-out the company has had since 1967 that allows it to govern its Orlando theme park and all that surrounding area basically as an independent city. This was Governor Ron DeSantis addressing that. I think in this particular case with Disney, I just don't think you have very many people in the legislature anymore who are going to be able to defend a lot of what has been done over many, many years to really have them almost govern themselves in some of these things.
--:-- Megan Basham: Now, has Disney reacted to this polling or to the legislative threats? No, not officially. But what I can tell you is that some of the Disney employees that I've spoken to said that they were not at all surprised to hear about all this massive blowback. And some shareholders are starting to speak out as well. One of them, economist Ray Keating, who also edits a journal that tracks Disney business news, told Fox News a few days ago that the company needs to, quoting here, get back to business and stop wasting shareholders' money.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Megan, thanks for reporting. Yeah, anytime. That's Daily Wire culture reporter, Megan Basham.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the natural conversation. If you love our show and you stand with our mission, consider subscribing, leaving us a five-star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend. That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know.
