The final week in April was dominated by the news that Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion. Conservatives cheered the move, while those on the Left voiced their apprehension. Elsewhere, GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene also made news for a variety of reasons, including a bizarre interview about the Catholic Church. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has been dealing with the discourse over Title 42 and the possibility of student loan forgiveness. Here are the quotes of the week.
“We were so far in the wrong direction of, really, abusive policing in our city and country that people got so fed up that they turned the ship too far in the wrong direction.”
– New York City Mayor Eric Adams says the pendulum on policing swung too far to the left under his predecessor, Bill de Blasio.
“We don’t always agree, but when it has mattered most, Kurt has been there for me. And in doing so, he has helped to pass much of my agenda into law — making a huge difference in the lives of the Oregonians he represents and all of America.”
– President Joe Biden offers his first endorsement of the 2022 cycle, touting Rep. Kurt Schrader, an Oregon Democrat, over a progressive challenger.
“The Buddha says the only consistent thing in the universe is change. One does not have to be a Buddhist to realize change is always taking place.”
– Kansas Judge Bill Klapper invokes Buddha as he throws out the state’s GOP-friendly congressional map.
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.”
– Elon Musk after buying Twitter for $44 billion, or $54.20 a share. Musk intends to take the platform private.
“There’s nothing happening in the world today, so this should be a quick one.”
– White House press secretary Jen Psaki at the Monday briefing, moments after Musk’s purchase of Twitter was announced.
“The bottom line is no, I am not going back to Twitter.”
– Former President Donald Trump reveals he won’t return to the platform despite Musk’s move to buy it.
“When Elon Musk says, ‘Wow, this is about free speech,’ it seems to me that it’s about free speech of straight white men. And so, let them have it.”
– The View’s Sunny Hostin on Musk’s Twitter takeover.
“We are certainly right now, in this country, out of the pandemic phase.
“Namely, we don’t have 900,000 new infections a day and tens and tens and tens of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths. We are at a low level right now.”
– Dr. Anthony Fauci tells PBS NewsHour that America is out of the pandemic phase.
“On Elon Musk, I would say — look, in many ways, Twitter has been a dark, dark place. I hope it doesn’t get any darker.”
– Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Musk buying Twitter.
“Spite is no way to run a country. We see so many of the great policies that Trump-Pence passed being unraveled. And Mr. Vice President, I’d like to say it’s an ideological disagreement, but most days, it just strikes me as spite.”
– Former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway tells former Vice President Mike Pence she thinks Biden is reversing Trump’s policies because of spite.
“We were told. I thought Secret Service was involved in that, actually. But we were told. And you get hit with fruit. It’s — no, it’s very violent stuff. We were on alert for that.”
– Trump reveals his thoughts on “dangerous” tomatoes in a deposition he gave as part of a lawsuit against protesters allegedly assaulted by his private security guards in front of Trump Tower.
“Rep. McCarthy and Rep. Scalise held views about President Trump and me that they shared on sniveling calls with Liz Cheney, not us. “This is the behavior of weak men, not leaders.”
– Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz on the leaked phone calls currently dogging House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
“Desperate polls call for desperate measures: Dems consider forgiving trillions in student loans. Other bribe suggestions: Forgive auto loans? Forgive credit card debt? Forgive mortgages? And put a wealth tax on the superrich to pay for it all. What could possibly go wrong?”
– Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican, criticizes Democratic proposals to cancel student loan debt.
“You got to be consistent. You either believe that Title 42 is still a necessary thing to do because of COVID or you don’t. There’s clearly no consistency here, and that’s the problem.”
– Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican, criticizes Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra for backing some COVID-19 measures while also supporting the end of the Title 42 pandemic policy.
“What it is is … Satan’s controlling the church. The church is not doing its job. It’s not adhering to the teachings of Christ. It’s not adhering to what the word of God says we’re supposed to do and how we’re supposed to live.”
– Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wades into more controversy with her views on the Catholic Church and its leadership.
“They’re all our children. And the reason you’re the teachers of the year is because you recognize that. They’re not somebody else’s children. They’re like yours when they’re in the classroom.”
– Biden on teachers’ roles in the classroom.
“I find it ironic that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle want to concentrate on the southern border while completely mischaracterizing and ignoring what’s happening in the interior of our country by right-wing extremists propelled by the false rhetoric of the ex-President Donald Trump.”
– Georgia Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson accuses Republicans of ignoring so-called right-wing extremists spurred by rhetoric from Trump.
“I’m not concerned about a recession. I mean, you’re always concerned about a recession, but the GDP falling 1.4% — here’s the deal: We also had, last quarter, consumer spending and business investment and residential investment increased at significant rates both for leisure as well as hard products.”
– Biden brushes off concerns despite a dip in America’s gross domestic product over the past quarter.
“Homeland Security should focus on securing the homeland and protecting Americans, not on trying to create the embryo of a Ministry of Truth.”
– GOP Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado on the creation of a new Disinformation Governance Board.
