© 2024 Allbritton Journalism Institute

It’s 2024. Elon Musk Rules X. And the Political World Is Still Addicted.

Paid ads for political candidates are all over the platform, and politics insiders are secretly buying blue checks.

A sign with removed characters is seen on the Twitter headquarters building.
Last year, Democratic candidates spent more than a million bucks on Twitter ads, per The Washington Post. Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP

While former President Donald Trump was actively being convicted by a jury of his peers in New York City last week, Democratic strategist Tim Hogan did what just about everyone in politics, media and the surrounding D.C. ecosystem did: He flipped open the social media app X, f.k.a. Twitter, and began furiously scrolling.

“Twitter still critical on days like today,” he tapped out. “There is no replacement.”

He deleted the post shortly after publishing it, in what appeared as a perfect articulation of the love-but-wish-I-didn’t relationship many in the political world now have with Twitter.