Elon Musk Dubbed A 'Hypocrite' For Suggesting How Users Vote On Election Day

Billionaire Elon Musk continues to draw criticism from Twitter users.

First, it was the $8 monthly blue Twitter checkmark verification fee. Then it was suspending accounts that mocked and impersonated him - including one belonging to comedian Kathy Griffin.

On Tuesday, Election Day, the Tesla CEO received pushback for disclosing how he plans to vote, with some labeling him a "hypocrite" after Musk previously declared that Twitter needs to be politically neutral.

On Monday, Musk tweeted, "To independent-minded voters: Shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties, therefore I recommend voting for a Republican Congress, given that the Presidency is Democratic."

He later added, "Hardcore Democrats or Republicans never vote for the other side, so independent voters are the ones who actually decide who’s in charge!"

However, many were quick to point to a tweet from April that read, "For Twitter to deserve public trust, it must be politically neutral, which effectively means upsetting the far right and the far left equally."

A March For Our Lives founder David Hogg clapped back at Musk, providing both the definitions for "neutral" and "hypocrite" in response to Musk's tweet.

Journalist Kanishka Raj Singh also took issue with Musk's stance, asking, "How would you, as the head of Twitter, justify recommending which party people should vote for after you advocated for political neutrality for the platform?"

Game News Curator Ryan Brown also criticized Musk for using his platform to advocate for Republicans, adding, "April 2022: Twitter should be politically neutral. November 2022: hi I own Twitter now, vote Republication."

Musk tried to defend himself from the political backlash, tweeting, “To be clear, my historical party affiliation has been Independent, with an actual voting history of entirely Democrat until this year. And I’m open to the idea of voting Democrat again in the future.”

However, Musk continued to receive criticism for siding with the Republican party, especially when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year. One user asked, "So, with all that has happened w/in the Republican party (insurrection resulting in death, stripping women of their bodily autonomy, voter suppression and election denying, promises to cut safety nets for seniors, etc.) NOW is when you CHOOSE to vote for them? Just curious."

Although Musk didn’t reply to many users, he did reply to Complexly Media CEO Hank Green, who tweeted, “This is a example of a tweet that undermines your ability to prevent twitter from becoming an $8 per month subscription to the Elon Musk fan club.”

Musk replied, "Like most people in America, I agree with some of the Democrat and some of the Republican policies, but not all. However, if executive and legislative branches are dominated by *one* party, then we lose balance of power."