Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter, visited Capitol Hill on Thursday and met with House leaders from both parties, saying the discussions were about the social media platform he purchased in October.
Musk described his meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in a tweet as an effort to “ensure that this platform is fair to both parties.”
Musk was spotted entering the Capitol by a reporter on Thursday night, but he did not respond to questions. His visit was not made public beforehand.
McCarthy, who celebrated his 58th birthday on Thursday, had earlier told reporters that Musk had “come by to wish me a happy birthday.”
When asked later whether the meeting included a discussion about Twitter, McCarthy’s spokesperson referred to the birthday wishes.
NBC News reached out to Jeffries’ office for comment.
Musk’s visit coincided with ongoing Republican claims that most social media platforms are suppressing conservative voices.
According to data reviewed by NBC News, Musk has restored hundreds of accounts of right-wing activists and QAnon followers since taking over Twitter.
Musk promoted a series of tweets last month about internal Twitter documents about how the company handled a news article about President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, in 2020, prohibiting people from tweeting or direct messaging about it. McCarthy later tweeted, “The new House Republican majority will get the answers and accountability the American people deserve.”
Musk also announced shortly after taking over Twitter that he would reinstate former President Donald Trump’s account, which had been suspended due to posts related to the Jan. 6 riot. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced on Wednesday that Trump’s account would be reinstated in the coming weeks, nearly two years after he was suspended from those platforms following the Capitol attack.
