I don't think Musk calculated that much, but a lot of people who cheered for Musk "because he was for free speech," are still cheering for Musk because... whatever. Because it's his company now and he can do whatever he wants and that's good?

(I mean, just skim through this whole comment thread.)

So, in the end, it doesn't matter whether he was for absolute free speech or not. At least not to Musk. And a lot of Musk fans.