STORY: The world’s richest man and Twitter's new owner Elon Musk threw his weight behind republican candidates ahead of Tuesday's U.S. midterm elections…

…tweeting on Monday that the GOP could use control of Congress to act as a balance against President Joe Biden..

Musk directed his Twitter message to what he called "independent-minded voters," writing: "Shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties, therefore I recommend voting for a Republican Congress, given that the presidency is Democratic."

Musk’s message to his over 110 million followers represented the first time the head of a major social media platform explicitly endorsed a U.S. political party.

And it comes as Musk has faced criticism from some groups who believe his so-called absolutist stance on free speech will increase misinformation on Twitter…

leading some advertisers to pull spending from the platform.

Musk, also CEO of Tesla, has been critical of the Biden administration and Democrats for their proposals to tax billionaires and give more tax incentives to union-made electric vehicles. Tesla does not have unions at its U.S. factories.

Republicans are favored to win a majority in the House of Representatives in Tuesday's elections, with the Senate rated a toss-up by nonpartisan election forecasters.

Republicans could use a majority in either chamber to bring Biden's legislative to a halt and launch potentially politically damaging investigations into Biden's administration and family.

Musk bought Twitter last month. In one of his first acts, the company laid off half its employees and flagged a drop in ad revenue. But the company's head of safety and integrity said the platform's content moderation capabilities remained in place.