Once upon a time, JD Vance wondered if Trump was “America’s Hitler,” but now, as Trump’s lapdog – er, running mate – he’s aping the tactics of the conman-in-chief. Even his pooch Atlas shoots him perplexed looks during campaign parades.
This 180-degree flip-flop has been meticulously documented by none other than the Trump campaign itself. In February, they compiled a hefty 271-page dossier on Vance to vet the Ohio senator as a potential running mate. Among the many topics, the dossier highlighted a special section on “potential vulnerabilities,” which, unsurprisingly, included Vance’s past critiques of Trump himself.
The dossier, however, didn’t stay confined to campaign strategy rooms. Ken Klippenstein, an independent journalist who formerly worked at The Intercept, got his hands on the document under suspicious circumstances. While mainstream media outlets also received the dossier, they chose to hold back due to concerns over the murky origins of the documents and questions about their newsworthiness. Klippenstein published the dossier on his website, arguing that the public had a right to know and that the contents, while sensitive, were verifiable.
“As far as I can tell, it hasn’t been altered, but even if it was, its contents are publicly verifiable. I’ll let it speak for itself.”
He also argued that if the document had been hacked by some “anonymous” hacker group, the media would be all over it. He asserted that he doesn’t believe the news media should act as an arm of the government, combating foreign influence or gatekeeping what the public should know.
Klippenstein’s publication led to an immediate backlash from Elon Musk’s “free speech” paradise X, resulting in his suspension from the platform. A spokesperson from X articulated to NBC that the journalist’s post seemed to infringe upon the platform’s privacy policies. Searches for links to Klippenstein’s newsletter yield no results on X as of now. In a Substack post, Klippenstein acknowledged that his decision to publish the unredacted dossier may have violated some arcane rule or another, but he defended his actions. “Did I make a mistake in not redacting the ‘private’ information on J.D. Vance?” he wrote.
“If I wanted a Twitter account, apparently so,” Klippenstein further quipped. The journalist didn’t post the dossier on X. The bolt from the blue is striking because it extends the reach of the X’s regulations to content shared outside its own network.
Interestingly, Twitter, before Musk’s acquisition, stated it would no longer block hacked materials after facing backlash for limiting the spread of a controversial New York Post article critical of Joe Biden. Musk was among those who decried Twitter’s decision to ban links to the Post’s story, calling it “obviously incredibly inappropriate.” Klippenstein’s suspension from X is a recurring theme of selective information management. And Musk’s principles/stances clearly only apply when it suits his interests or benefits the politicians he endorses.
Musk’s recent antics shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention. The billionaire has been through a lot lately, and the stress of potentially losing his beloved Florida Man (a.k.a. Donald Trump) not just once, but twice, has pushed him over the edge. These days, Musk is lashing out at anyone who dares to threaten Trump’s 2024 presidential delusions of grandeur.
Lest we forget Musk also threatened to impregnate Taylor Swift when she publicly endorsed Kamala Harris instead of the former president (while JD Vance ironically yapped, “nobody’s going to be influenced by a billionaire celebrity,” dismissing Swift’s influence). Previously on X, Musk seemingly encouraged violence against President Biden and Vice President Harris. So much for being a champion of free speech, eh? His big opinions often fail spectacularly in execution, though, like one of his high-tech rides that can barely make it down the block.
