X, the social media service owned by Elon Musk, will host live video town halls with former President Donald J. Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election, a major move in policy, according to a person familiar with the plans.
The town halls, which will be done in partnership with cable channel NewsNation, have not yet been scheduled and moderators have not been selected, said the person, who requested anonymity because the plans were not finalized. still public. X users will be able to ask questions of presidential candidates during events.
In an appearance on NewsNation on Wednesday evening, Mr. Kennedy confirmed his intention to participate in a town hall, adding that Mr. Musk had offered to use the platform.
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The town hall meetings follow a March meeting between Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk. The owner of X invited Mr. Biden to hold a town hall meeting on the platform, but his campaign did not respond, the person familiar with the matter said.
Mr. Musk did not endorse Mr. Trump, who was swept from Twitter after the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. Mr. Musk quickly reinstated the former president after purchasing the platform in 2022, which he renamed XM Musk courted Mr. Trump, asking him to start using X again.
Mr. Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Trump’s presence on Advertisers have opted out, concerned about reports of hate speech and misinformation on the platform.
The platform has long been known as a text-first social media service. But under the leadership of its chief executive, Linda Yaccarino, a former NBC Universal advertising executive, the company has increasingly integrated video features.
She has made several deals to produce video content with television personalities, including Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host; Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic presidential candidate; and Paris Hilton, the reality TV star and DJ
Ms. Yaccarino contacted Nexstar, NewsNation’s parent company, about the town hall concept, the person familiar with the arrangement said, and ironed out the details as part of her effort to make X a video platform . Axios the town hall had previously reported.
