The Two Plus Two Coalition is an organization dedicated to combatting alleged disinformation promoted by right-wing media and social media outlets, including Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter), in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s second successful presidential election. The group, which was raising funds as of November 2024, is advised by former Republican political consultant and Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson. ¹

Background

During the 2016 and 2020 election cycles, there was a widely held perspective that left-leaning and Democratic perspectives had captured the mainstream media and major social media companies, particularly X (then known as Twitter). In 2022, billionaire businessman Elon Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion and immediately began restructuring the platform to dismantle alleged anti-right content moderation and permit the display of more balanced political content. According to left-leaning critics, Musk’s acquisition marked the beginning of a wider trend of media outlets, particularly independent outlets, becoming more right-leaning and supporting former President Donald Trump. Prominent podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan endorsed Trump shortly before the 2024 election, and some pundits have claimed that this trend had a significant impact on the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. ^{1 2 3 4}

According to Two Plus Two Coalition senior advisor Rick Wilson, “you’ve got hundreds of right-wing outlets screaming bloody murder every minute of the day about bias, about deception, about prejudice. It’s all playing the ref. It’s all a game to them.” ⁵

According to a November 2024 story by the New York Times, the Two Plus Two Coalition launched shortly after Trump’s victory as a Democratic effort to challenge this trend. The organization sought to “unearth unflattering revelations about the Murdoch family and Elon Musk — both pro-Trump media magnates.” In a prospectus given to donors, the organization announced plans to “target the hidden sources of disinformation and expose them for what they are.” The prospectus asked for minimal donations of $1 million with a planned budget of $10 million to $15 million. ¹

The Times further described the Two Plus Two Coalition as “an opposition research firm but with a military-grade intelligence-gathering operation that went far beyond the document vetting typical of a political campaign.” ¹

Activities

As of November 2024, the Two Plus Two Coalition was still in the fundraising stage. ¹

In an interview with The New Republic, Two Plus Two Coalition senior advisor Rick Wilson claimed “groups like Fox News” promote “this massive disinformation overhang that they’ve gotten away with for so long. And Two Plus Two is going to try to mitigate some of that and to go out and give the center and the center-left some tools to face up to this frankly grotesque movement that’s out there.” ⁶

Wilson further clarified that the Two Plus Two Coalition will provide support to “allies” in the media to combat disinformation with research and context. ⁶

Leadership

Rick Wilson is a founding senior advisor to the Two Plus Two Coalition. Wilson was a longtime Republican strategist who started his career working for the 1988 presidential campaign of George H.W. Bush and later advised former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani (R), former U.S. Senators Saxby Chambliss (R), and former Florida Lieutenant Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera (R), as well as designing notable attack ads against Barack Obama (D) during his two presidential campaigns. In 2016, Wilson became a leading member of the “Never Trump” movement opposing Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and defected from the Republican Party to support Evan McMullin (I) as an Independent presidential candidate. In 2019, Wilson co-founded the Lincoln Project, a nominally right-leaning super PAC opposed to then-President Donald Trump. In an op-ed, Wilson wrote: “I will never vote for Donald Trump, not even if he’s the Republican nominee. I will never vote for Donald Trump, not even if Ronald Reagan and William F. Buckley rise from the grave and beg me to support him.” ^{1 7 8}

1. Epstein, Reid J.; Lerer Lisa. “Democrats Draw Up an Entirely New Anti-Trump Battle Plan.” The New York Times. November 17, 2024. Accessed November 20, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/16/us/politics/democrats-anti-trump-battle-plan.html.
2. “Joe Rogan.” X. November 4, 2024. Accessed November 20, 2024. https://x.com/joerogan/status/1853614670764015762.
3. Malik, Kenan. “The Twitter Files should disturb liberal critics of Elon Musk – and here’s why.” The Guardian. January 1, 2023. Accessed November 20, 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/01/the-twitter-files-should-disturb-liberal-critics-of-elon-musk-and-heres-why.
4. Wolfson, Sam. “Don’t underestimate the Rogansphere. His mammoth ecosystem is Fox News for young people.” The Guardian. November 20, 2024. Accessed November 20, 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/20/joe-rogan-theo-von-podcasts-donald-trump.
5. Sargent, Greg. “Transcript: Another Fiasco for Trump as His Pick for Pentagon Implodes.” The New Republic, November 18, 2024. https://newrepublic.com/article/188523/transcript-another-fiasco-trump-pick-pentagon-implodes.
6. “Transcript: Another Fiasco for Trump as His Pick for Pentagon Implodes.” The New Republic. November 18, 2024. Accessed November 20, 2024. https://newrepublic.com/article/188523/transcript-another-fiasco-trump-pick-pentagon-implodes.
7. “Rick Wilson (Florida).” Ballotpedia. Accessed November 20, 2024. https://ballotpedia.org/Rick_Wilson_(Florida).
8. “About.” Rick Wilson. Accessed November 20, 2024. http://www.therickwilson.com/about/.