Culture Wars Have Become the Main Attraction to Republican Policy
Republicans like Florida's DeSantis decry Apple's scrutiny of Twitter
So-called “culture wars,” rather than substantive national policy, is what currently animates the Republican Party, according to a former Democratic senator.
And, as if to prove her point, Florida's Republican governor — and likely 2024 presidential contender — Ron DeSantis has spent this week defending Twitter owner Elon Musk while blasting Apple for potentially removing the social media app from Apple's App Store.
“So, it is really fair, I think, to say that the culture wars have become the main attraction in the Republican Party. Not policy, not how big should the government be, or what tax policies should be, or even what foreign policy should be, but rather culture wars,” said former senator Claire McCaskill, of Missouri, in an on-camera appearance on MSNBC host Joy Reid's program. “And I don’t think most Americans think that’s what this should all be about, and I think in the long run, they’re going to pay a price for it, Joy.”
Meanwhile, DeSantis — and other Republicans — are taking Apple to task over the potential for the tech giant to remove Twitter from its online App Store because changes instituted since he took over Twitter have invited more hate speech and disinformation.
And that has raised predictable outrage on the political right.
DeSantis appeared on far-right Fox News host Tucker Carlson's program Tuesday evening to rail about the issue.
“Well, Tucker, in the states, you know, we did Big Tech censorship bill two years ago, it’s gotten caught up in the courts. I think the U.S. Supreme Court will accept that case for this term. Texas has a similar case, there’s a conflict in the circuits, so whatever the states can do to protect people’s rights to engage in free expression,” DeSantis said. “And you know, what some of these companies do, they get a lot of benefits from the government. As you said, patent, things like that, the social media companies get liability protection, and yet they turn around and they use that protection to marginalize voices they disagree with.
“So, I think from the congressional perspective though, they need to look at antitrust with these massive companies because they are exercising massive amounts of power over our society,” he added.
Meanwhile, in a separate appearance on his own program, The Daily Show host Trevor Noah took the opposite position and defended Apple's position while lambasting billionaire Musk.
“Really, Elon? Tyranny? You can’t give the ‘Braveheart’ speech about everything. Everything. This dude is walking around headquarters like, ‘This threatens the very existence of democracy and mankind,’ and the janitor is like, ‘Okay, jeez, I’ll refill the paper towels. Stop shouting,’” Noah joked. “Now, we should unpack this a bit, because Elon went full-on ludicrous mode yesterday with a bunch of different claims about Apple. The first thing he complained about was that Apple stopped advertising on Twitter, which he thinks is an attack on free speech. And maybe it’s just me, but do you also find it funny how free speech and giving Elon Musk money always seem to be perfectly aligned? Elon is like, ‘Oh, so the world’s most carefully protected brand doesn’t want ads showing up next to Nazi memes? I guess you believe in censorship, huh?’
“Secondly, Elon is bitching that Apple has threatened to drop Twitter from the App Store, and if that’s true, it’s probably because Apple requires all of its apps to be safe and Musk has essentially fired all the people who are responsible for content moderation and replaced them with a sign that just says, 'Hey, don't post that!’” Noah added.
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