The 2024 election

Ryan Selkis, the cofounder and CEO of the crypto research platform Messari, is stepping down from his position in the aftermath of a social media tirade following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania.

Selkis, an outspoken Trump supporter who attended David Sacks’ sold-out fundraiser for him in June, said on X that Trump’s detractors should “die in a fire,” claimed the shooting was a deep state plot orchestrated by Democrats, and called for the deportation of a US green card holder who disagreed with his posts. “I hope we send you back,” he said in an exchange captured by CoinDesk. “You are protected by constitutional rights, but you are not entitled to citizenship. I hope it stays that way.”

Twitch has reinstated former President Donald Trump’s account after “indefinitely” suspending him following the January 6th, 2021, attacks on the US Capitol.

“We reinstated former President Trump’s Twitch channel,” a Twitch spokesperson, who asked to remain anonymous due to safety concerns, says in a statement. “We believe there is value in hearing from Presidential nominees directly, when possible. Trump is now the official Republican nominee for US president.” (Trump accepted the GOP nomination for president Thursday night.)

Just days after former President Donald Trump vowed to send Mark Zuckerberg to prison for “long periods of time,” the CEO of Meta is returning the favor — by complimenting Trump.

In an interview with Bloomberg that’s set to air on Tuesday, Zuckerberg was asked about what’s at stake in the upcoming US presidential election. Zuckerberg first spoke about how Meta is focusing less on politics across its platforms by allowing users to tweak their settings to see less political content and recommending less content of that kind to users. Zuckerberg also says he will not personally “endorse” either President Joe Biden or Trump — before offering, unprompted, his take on the Trump rally shooting.

A “Trump2024” banner labeled “Promoted by Team Trump” sat atop the What’s Happening summary on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, during the fourth and final night of the Republican National Convention on Thursday.

While the #Trump2024 hashtag temporarily showed the American flag, and clicking it caused an animated “hashfetti” effect with flags raining down, it was the icon attached to the number one trending #MAGA topic that caught our eyes.

The fallout from the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a rally over the weekend is seeping into even the most tangential circles — in this case, the print-on-demand custom sticker industry.

This week, Sticker Mule, a popular option for companies, creators, event organizers, and others wanting branded merchandise, shared a long message expressing support for Trump.

In February, about a hundred people gathered at Bloomberg’s Washington, DC, office for a conference hosted by the startup incubator Y Combinator.

It was an event with some of the biggest names in the modern antitrust reform movement, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan. Both have been advocates of refreshing what they see as an outdated view of American antitrust law, which they believe has allowed the largest tech companies to evade scrutiny, stifling the would-be upstarts that Y Combinator made its name investing in. 

Several close friends of Elon Musk, including Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale, venture capitalist Doug Leone, and investor and podcast host David Sacks, have donated lavishly to a super PAC backing former President Donald Trump — and The Wall Street Journal reports that Musk plans on donating as much as $45 million a month to America PAC. In a post on X, Musk replied to the Journal’s article with a meme claiming it was “fake gnus” (fake news), though Bloomberg reported this weekend that he had already contributed an undisclosed amount to the super PAC.

Musk endorsed Trump on Saturday following the assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania and praised Trump’s selection of Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate. Several of Musk’s friends and business associates have contributed to the PAC, and others have reportedly said they’d do so. Multiple America PAC donors attended a $50,000-a-head fundraiser hosted by Sacks — the host of the All-In podcast, who decried “Democrat rule” in San Francisco in a Monday speech at the Republican National Convention — according to The Washington Post.

The person who attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump during a rally on Saturday had a Discord account — though it was rarely used — according to the company.

“Discord removed the account according to our off-platform behavior policy and we are assisting law enforcement in their investigation,” Clint Smith, chief legal officer of Discord, said in an emailed statement. “The suspect’s account was rarely utilized, has not been used in months, and we have found no evidence that it was used to plan this incident, promote violence, or discuss his political views, but with the investigation ongoing, we are not able to share any additional information at this time.” Discord didn’t respond to The Verge’s questions about how it traced the account and what communities the account was part of.

Conspiracy theories about the shooting at a rally for Donald Trump began surfacing on X shortly after the news broke this afternoon, with the platform promoting topics including “#falseflag” and “staged” to users. X owner Elon Musk has staunchly advocated for “free speech” on social media platforms — which can include misinformation like the above.

After the shooting, Musk posted that he would “fully endorse” the former president. Bloomberg reported yesterday that Musk donated to a super PAC supporting Trump, giving a “sizable amount” to reelection efforts. Musk has taken on increasingly conservative views in recent years, promoting the “great replacement” conspiracy theory and endorsing support for white pride. His support adds to a growing rank of powerful voices in Silicon Valley that are promoting his campaign.

Former President Donald Trump will no longer be subject to extra severe penalties for content rule violations on his Facebook and Instagram accounts, Meta said on Friday.

Previously, Trump’s account could be fully suspended for even a relatively small infraction that wouldn’t lead to the same penalty for any other account. Now, with the Republican National Convention taking place next week, he’ll be treated more like everyone else.

The Supreme Court ruled that presidents are “absolutely” immune from criminal prosecution when their actions involve allegedly official acts while they were in office. Former presidents also have a “presumption of immunity” for their official acts while in office — but, the court ruled, there is no immunity for “unofficial acts.”

The decision in Trump v. United States means that the special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution against former President Donald Trump — who’s currently running to unseat President Joe Biden — may be able to proceed. In his majority decision, Chief Justice John Roberts remanded the case to the lower courts, which now have to determine whether Trump’s conduct was official or unofficial.