> I know they're left-leaning, but carrying water for racist communists seems a bit much, even for them.

I believe it is because they pander to an audience that suffers from Elon Derangement Syndrome: those people think that no matter what Elon says or does, it's wrong, if he asks something he's even wrong to ask it. Now that Trump is in the background, these people needed someone they can hate passionately, and to me it looks like it's Elon since he took over Twitter.