Joe Biden says threat Elon Musk may or may not pose to nat'l security 'is worthy of being looked at'

Sarah D | 1:17 PM on November 10, 2022

Earlier this week, NBC News “dystopia beat” senior reporter Ben Collins suggested that Twitter under Elon Musk could become a hotbed of violence and lead to activity on the same level as the January 6 riots.

NBC's Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__): "[Twitter moderators'] whole job in the next few days is to make sure we get through this w/o violence. That’s literally what these people are saying to me. Musk is not committed to this … But people internally I’m talking to are" pic.twitter.com/rzAb1O8dCA

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) November 8, 2022

Collins was effectively suggesting that Elon Musk is a threat to U.S. national security. You might think that sounds ridiculous, but if you’re Joe Biden, you’re more than willing to entertain the idea:

Reporter: "Do you think @elonmusk is a threat to national security?"

Biden: "It's worthy of being looked at." pic.twitter.com/x9AUeqGK3H

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 9, 2022

Transcript:

Questioner: “Do you think Elon Musk is a threat to U.S. national security, and should the U.S., and with the tools you have, investigate his joint acquisition of Twitter with foreign governments, which include the Saudis?”

Biden: (laughing to himself) “I think that Elon Musk’s cooperation and/or technical relationships with other countries is worthy of being looked at. Whether or not he is doing anything inappropriate, I’m not suggesting that. I’m suggesting that at worst, worth being looked at. Um, and uh, um, and, uh, that’s all I’ll say.”

Before we go any further, it’s worth noting that Biden’s White House can’t be all that concerned about tech threats to national security. At least Biden hosting TikTok stars late last month would suggest that they’re not all that concerned about it.