Elon Musk and Donald Trump wouldn’t seem to be natural allies. One has made cutting greenhouse emissions a major business selling point. The other questions the need to cut emissions at all, denouncing most forms of clean energy as at best unnecessary and at worst destructive.
One wants to move away from fossil fuels and convert all car sales worldwide to electric vehicles. The other believes EVs will be an economic disaster for America and that the nation should produce and burn more oil.
Musk is now publicly endorsing Trump’s presidential reelection bid. And the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reports that Musk is now planning on supporting Trump’s presidential campaign by committing $45 million a month to a new super PAC backing the former president.
The donations, if they come to pass, are a significant development in not only the presidential campaign, but also the relationship between the two men, who both have fervent support among millions of fans who stand ready to believe most anything they say.
Musk didn’t comment directly on the Journal report, but he did use a meme of people dressed as African wildebeests with the title “Fake Gnus,” suggesting the report was incorrect. And he tweeted soon after the assassination attempt on Trump Saturday “I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery.”
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Beyond his financial support for the Trump campaign, Musk, with 190 million followers on his platform X, is possibly one of the world’s most-followed “influencers,” in addition to having the greatest net worth on the planet.
Asked at that meeting about his relationship with Trump, and Trump having nice things to say about Tesla even as he attacks EVs, Musk replied, “I can be persuasive.”
But for the last several years Musk has repeatedly shown support for Trump – or opposition to President Joe Biden.
Tesla, the greatest source of Musk’s planet-leading net worth, has benefited from subsidies passed under the Biden Administration, providing tax credits of up to $7,500 for EV buyers. But those tax credits also help established automakers seeking to sell their own EVs. Musk recently tweeted the EV subsidies passed under Biden actually helped its rivals more than Tesla.
Published on 22/07/2024
By Michael S.