Ruth Dudley Edwards: Like Musk, I believe that freedom of speech is the rock on which our democracies are built

It was the same on election night last November, when his crude insults and unpredictability were as alienating as Kamala Harris’s chuckling stupidity and the wreckage caused to America by the irresponsible Democrats and their senile president.

Again I wanted both candidates to lose. But when I woke and heard Trump had won, I found myself exulting at the defeat of those who hectored ordinary people on progressive values when what they cared about was feeding their families.

Having read the terrific Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson I had become a great admirer of the very human greatest genius of our time.

I had given a fair wind to Keir Starmer but the last few weeks have revealed him to be the worst prime minister we ever had.

But I don’t think Musk and Trump should think him evil. Starmer did not block prosecutions of Pakistani rapists who preyed on white girls.

The duo share an often childish, mischievous sense of humour, full of memes and exaggerations.

I think we should all be calm and stop feeding the hysteria. This row is spurred by Musk’s loyalty to his beloved Liverpool “Nana” who cleaned floors for a living and who is in his mind’s eye when he reads about the mass rapes of white British girls.

Trump is much cleverer and well-intentioned than he might sound, and the crudeness is because he speaks to ordinary people directly and in their language.

I’ve been very reassured by what I’ve seen of how he is preparing for office. He does not want the US to take over Canada. He is just teasing Justin Trudeau, whose wokery and virtue signalling repel him.

Trump’s US won't be invading Greenland or the Panama Canal. He likes deals. Not war.

Similarly, despite his hyperbolic messages to his 211 million X followers, Musk is not seriously calling for them to "liberate" the British from their "tyrannical government".

It is unjust of Musk to accuse Starmer of being “complicit in the rape of Britain”.

These playground wars should have been defused long ago. But seeing the worst and having no sense of humour makes Starmer react like a pompous head boy everyone laughs at.

Musk-haters should grasp that he is very unlike familiar Silicon Valley types. He has no interest in palaces or yachts or trophy wives. He's absolutely focused on making the world a better place for entirely humanitarian reasons and finding somewhere for us all to live if we destroy our planet.

Like Musk, I believe that freedom of speech is the rock on which our democracies are built. Without firing a shot, he has forced a climb-down from Mark Zuckerberg and the biased Meta censors.

​

l Ruth Dudley Edwards is the author of ‘The Faithful Tribe: an intimate portrait of the loyal institutions’ and 'Aftermath: The Omagh Bombing and the Families’ Pursuit of Justice.'