hypochondriac

Maybe but if that's the standard then that would be true for any potential Prime Minister who looks promising.

I agree. He'd have a job curtailing the extremists in his party but I could see a future where I'd consider voting for him if he managed it.

I've always liked Andy Burnham. Always strikes me as someone who genuinely wants to make a positive impact and is prepared to work across party lines and praise his opponents. I can respect that.

He knows what he's doing.

For me, the Democrats lost it more than the republicans won it. Had they not made key mistakes they would have won. Blaming the electorate for Trump will ensure they keep losing.

Democrats only have themselves to blame.

Let's not go overboard. No one is going to attempt to conquer Britain.

I haven't ignored all of human history. You're ignoring the Internet and the fact that it does things that haven't been possible in the rest of human history. You can disagree with me but it's not a stupid argument. He has an awful lot of power and influence, whether you believe it's the most in human history in some ways or not.

You're confusing saying things of value with influence. Just because a lot of what Musk says isn't valuable doesn't mean he has no influence. This is frankly a bizarre take to have. I'm not saying Musk is worth listening to, simply that lots of people do listen him and he has a very large influence and impact as a consequence. It's not a controversial thing to say. The availability of the Internet has changed the reach and power of what someone says and their influence to a degree that I don't think you have quite appreciated. The amount of people that Musk and others are able to reach almost instantly is unprecedented in human history.

Correct. In some ways he does. I wouldn't say more than Musk though given the latter's other business interests and spheres of influence and the technology he is in charge of. Starlink for example has enormous influence.

Harris didn't do a long form interview that reached tens of millions of people in less than a day with Beyonce or Swift. Rogan's channel absolutely dwarfs the traditional media and mainstream news. Similarly Musk's pronouncements and various media on X has had incredible viewerships. Beyond them, someone like Andrew Tate has had a giant influence on loads of young people, far greater than some random pop star or actor had decades ago. Social media has less of an impact over in the UK admittedly but I think it's impact is increasing. Farage for example has a large following on tiktok and that sort of thing is only going to grow as we tend to follow America with stuff like this.

Quite a number of commentators felt that Joe rogan and Musk swung the election for Trump. I do think your underestimating the influence that social media has on a global scale, even if Musk doesn't have much of an impact on your children specifically.

Surely part of the reason for bringing him back would be to try to assure him he has a future here and that he would have a big role next year. Quite possible he will be off in the summer and we get zero benefit from him and no effort to try to get him to stay.

Would be very interesting if something like this is part of the motivation for Musk's tweets. It would probably suit him if Trump goes to war with the EU and UK over free speech and regulation of social media.

I think your suggesting that because he wields that influence that that's somehow a positive thing? It's not mind blowing or life transforming but it has a huge influence and impact.

Shit. Changed my mind. Musk is a fringe loon with the same impact on world affairs as the homeless man who sleeps on the bench at the Common.

Yes that's exactly my point. It's not that it's a good thing and almost certainly isn't a positive thing but it is a thing clearly. I think anyone claiming that being the main voice on a social media platform only has a small influence solely on those users of the platform really doesn't know an awful lot about social media.

Yes I did say that. I didn't say what you claimed previously.

Nothing. Maybe read it again?

That was never the claim.

The largest voices on social media have an influence far beyond online and Musk currently has the largest voice of them all. Southport showed the influence of social media and that was just one incident one time localised to the UK. That's before you even mention the influence he has over the Ukraine war given his starlink which he allows them to use for free has had a massive influence on global affairs. Astounding to think otherwise.

Exactly. I genuinely can't believe someone believing that the likes of Musk has no real power. That's an incredible thing to say. You can despise him all you like but he's undeniably a very powerful person.

Tony Blair was a master at communication, mainly because he said things in such a reasonable and persuasive way when almost certainly behind the scenes he felt differently. Starmer's main problem at the moment is that he can't fake it and it's very likely that he comes across as disdainful and dismissive of certain viewpoints because that is how he genuinely feels and he either hasn't figured out that he should hide that or he is unable to do so.

In the opinion of many commentators he had a big influence on the presidential election which will have changed the course of history. I think you underestimate the influence of social media and it's ability to go far beyond short-lived headlines. He holds immense power, both with his companies and the technology, his wealth and influence and his social media platform. He's immensely powerful, as is the likes of Mark Zuckerberg. Curious you would think otherwise.

He can send out a few words on his phone whilst taking a shit and ruin companies, cause major diplomatic incidents and provoke public responses from all manner of world leaders. He has more wealth than a lot of countries. No one in history has had their voice amplified in that manner before and the platform to keep doing it so as I said, in some ways he does.