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Ben Wikler: “Elon Musk assuming control, my follower growth on Twitter…”

Featuring: Ben Wikler, Democratic | Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin

Ben Wikler Reflects on His Tenure as Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin on Hello Mergetag Podcast

Published May 21, 2025 | Video Starts at 11:08

I think that partly it's due to the kind of people who would follow me have left Twitter, but I think it's an algorithm. I think as well that basically Elon Musk assuming control, my follower growth on Twitter stalled out. and I now have many more flowers on Blue sky, even though I've been active there much less. And I think I get fewer impressions on Blue Sky. (11:08–11:19)

CLAIM

Asserts that Elon Musk's control of Twitter affected his follower growth.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Ben Wikler

“Most state parties have less than five. So we're like it's just in a totally different place.”
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“Harris got more votes than Biden [in Wisconsin].”
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“We came the closest of any of the states that Trump won to defeating him.”
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“54,000 people voted for Trump and then stopped voting [in Wisconsin].”
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“There's a real chance Wisconsin gets a blue trifecta in 2026.”
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“X used to be the actual, you know, global town square. Now it is a right-wing echo chamber.”
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“Twitter's almost like in your Democratic campaign. It's just not actually very helpful.”
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“I wouldn't buy ads on Twitter that seems like it incredibly bad like we're doing.”
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“Right wing blue checks like it, then it's going to like become a massive, a massive hit on Twitter.”
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“The cost of making content is much lower. I mean it is higher than the cost of posting it on a variety of platforms.”
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“Personnel is policy in. In a way.”
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“The goal with the party is that every election it's to win, but it's also to conduct the election such that win or lose, we come out the…”
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“We used to raise, like, six figures a month on Twitter.”
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“The first one was in the summer 2019, when Trump came to Wisconsin.”
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“We have an actual match here.”
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