In late 2022, when Laura Loomer, a far-right activist, regained access to her Twitter account, she quickly expressed her gratitude to Elon Musk for the reinstatement.

As Elon Musk Embraces Far Right, Some of Its Top Figures Reject Him

“Thank you, Elon!” she posted, referring to Musk, who had recently acquired the platform. In another tweet, Loomer, who had been banned from Twitter in 2018 for posting anti-Muslim content, commended Musk for his commitment to “free speech.”

However, Loomer now has a different message for Musk. Along with other prominent right-wing figures—many of whom have gained more visibility on the platform, now rebranded as X—she and her allies are increasingly critical of Musk’s influence over President-elect Donald Trump, as well as his perceived tendency to stifle dissent on his social media platform.https://wordpress.com/

Conservative voices like Charlie Kirk and Stephen K. Bannon have also started to publicly challenge Musk and his policies. Batya Ungar-Sargon, the conservative opinion editor of Newsweek, recently accused Musk of being a “shill” who silences his critics. Mike Davis, a lawyer with close ties to Trump, took to social media to advise Musk to “stay in your lane.”

Their grievances grew following actions by X to suspend or restrict dozens of accounts that had raised concerns about Musk, even blocking links to articles about him, claiming violations of its terms of service. Over the weekend, Musk’s criticism of Nigel Farage—an ally of Trump and leader of Britain’s far-right Reform UK party—further fueled conservative backlash.

Musk, 53, has quickly soured some of the goodwill he garnered from Trump supporters after actively campaigning for the Republican candidate last year. Many right-wing figures who once celebrated Musk’s entry into politics now feel disillusioned and worry that their agenda is being sidelined in favor of Musk’s own interests.

“As a loyal supporter of President Trump, I feel compelled to raise the alarm about what’s becoming a liability,” Loomer said in an interview. After her X account was temporarily suspended in December for criticizing Musk’s immigration stance, she added, “It seems you’re not allowed to question Elon, and the pressing question now is: Will Trump intervene before this escalates into a crisis for his administration?”

Neither Musk nor X responded to requests for comment. On Tuesday, Trump acknowledged that Musk had “said some negative things” about European politicians—though he did not name Farage—but still praised Musk, saying he was “doing a good job.”

Musk’s fallout with some of the far-right figures contrasts with his growing embrace of more extreme political forces worldwide, including in Germany, where he has supported a party with neo-Nazi ties and plans a livestream with one of its leaders. However, figures like Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist behind Infowars, continue to back Musk, claiming that any opposition to him is an attempt to undermine Trump’s incoming administration.

The tension raises questions about the nature of the alliance between Musk and right-wing Trump supporters. Musk has increasingly become the target of the very free speech principles he promoted on X by reinstating accounts like Loomer’s and others previously banned from the platform.

“Speech suppression on Musk’s X is nothing new, and the rhetoric of ‘free speech absolutism’ was always performative,” said Evelyn Douek, a Stanford Law School professor who studies online speech regulation. “It’s especially ironic that these accusations are coming from someone like Loomer, whose reinstatement was once hailed as the dawn of a new era on Twitter.”

Loomer, a two-time Republican congressional candidate known for inflammatory views on Islam, broke from Musk shortly before Christmas after she posted on X about her dissatisfaction with Sriram Krishnan, an Indian American venture capitalist chosen by Trump to advise on artificial intelligence. Loomer criticized Krishnan’s support for expanding H-1B visas, which she opposed.

Musk, who has utilized the visa program to hire workers at his companies, including Tesla, defended the program as a way to bring in global talent. “I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend,” Musk tweeted on Dec. 27.

As the disagreement grew, Loomer and Bannon framed Musk’s support for foreign workers as an affront to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” base. They accused Musk of being driven by his business interests, particularly Tesla’s ties to China, and questioned whether it was wise to allow someone with such financial influence to dominate the party. Musk had contributed over $250 million to help Trump’s election campaign.

“Musk became addicted to the adoration he received at rallies during the election cycle,” Bannon told The New York Times. “But that quickly turned to scorn when MAGA realized he thought of them as lazy and mediocre.”

On Dec. 26, X suspended Loomer’s account for 12 hours after she posted an image from the Federal Election Commission website, which included the home addresses of political donors. X prohibits the sharing of certain personal information, even if it is publicly accessible. That day, Loomer also lost her check mark, which users can pay for to increase engagement and, in some cases, share in ad revenue.

Other members of the Conservative PAC, a political action group supporting Trump’s policies, also had their check marks removed, sparking accusations of a coordinated move. “I voted for Trump, not for Elon,” said Preston Parra, the group’s chairman, in an interview. Some check marks were restored over the weekend, including Loomer’s.

Anastasia Maria Loupis, a Danish doctor with over 1.3 million followers on X, also lost her check mark after criticizing H-1B visas and Musk. Loupis threatened legal action against X, accusing Musk of acting as though he were a “savior of free speech” while making decisions based on “his selfish ambitions for money and power.”

Musk also faced further criticism when X blocked links to an investigative article by The Spectator, a conservative British publication, about an X account some believed Musk secretly controlled. The article suggested the account @AdrianDittmann was operated by someone in Fiji. X suspended the accounts of the article’s author and two researchers for allegedly violating rules about sharing personal information.

Some have compared Musk’s actions to the censorship practices of Twitter’s previous management, which had blocked a New York Post article about Hunter Biden ahead of the 2020 election.

“This is what old Twitter did to the New York Post,” wrote right-wing commentator Stephen L. Miller.

Matt McDonald, U.S. managing editor of The Spectator, pointed out the irony in Musk’s behavior, given his claim to champion free speech. “Maybe X is not the free-speech paradise its most passionate fans think it is,” he said.

Musk’s comments about Nigel Farage, who had pushed back against Musk’s support for Tommy Robinson, an anti-immigration activist, further inflamed the tensions. Musk wrote that “The Reform Party needs a new leader,” suggesting Farage lacked the necessary qualities.

Farage, who had previously praised Musk, hinted at disagreements in his response to the news. Raheem Kassam, a former adviser to Farage, succinctly responded to Musk on X: “You’re a moron.”