• A top Democrat urged his fellow liberals to stay on Elon Musk’s X platform.

• This month, millions of users joined Bluesky, which bills itself as a liberal alternative to X.

• Khanna told Politico that his relationship with Elon Musk was an example of finding common ground.

Rep. Ro Khanna, a leading progressive lawmaker who represents the heart of Silicon Valley, said liberals shouldn’t flee from Elon Musk’s X but urged his fellow Democrats to engage with those who share opposing beliefs.

Khanna made the comments on an episode of Politico’s Power Play podcast this week amid an exodus of liberal users from X to Bluesky.

The social networking platform, which pitches itself as a progressive alternative to Musk’s website, surpassed 21 million users this month, up from 13 million in October.

“I don’t think the answer is for progressives to retreat,” Khanna told Politico. “The idea is that in the long term, in a marketplace of ideas, the truth will emerge.”

The California lawmaker described himself as a “free speech person” who is “constantly” possible.

Khanna, who has a longstanding relationship with Musk, cited his own interactions with the billionaire on X as evidence of the kind of commonality people can find online.

On Monday, Khanna posted a clip of himself on CNN talking about the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which President-elect Donald Trump has put in charge of Musk and fellow billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy.

“When it comes to reducing waste, fraud and abuse and opening up the 5 primes to more competition, there are Democrats at HASC who will work with @elonmusk and @DOGE,” Khanna wrote on X.

Musk then retweeted the post and said, “Cool!”

Khanna reiterated on Politico’s podcast this week his willingness to work with Musk, who has become an adviser to Trump in recent months. He said he agreed with cost cutting, citing defense spending.

“This is an area where I am on the Armed Services Committee and will work with someone like Elon Musk or Vivek Ramaswamy if they can actually help break the monopolies of these defense companies,” Khanna said.

Last year, Khanna praised Musk as a business “genius” but criticized the Tesla CEO’s controversial online behavior, including his posting of outlandish memes.

Khanna described himself as a “technology optimist” and said he supports a balance between regulation and ethics in the digital space. Lawmakers introduced an Internet Bill of Rights in 2018 that focused on online privacy, but the legislation was blocked in Congress.

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