US Election - Elon Musk about Biden: 'My smartest friends are excited about Trump/Vance'
As the owner of social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Elon Musk has a loud voice. Not only do more than 190 million profiles follow him there, but he also appears on the homepages of people who don't subscribe to his posts. This makes it difficult to overlook his ambitions in the US election campaign. He is particularly engaged this time around, as he believes Trump must win at all costs.
Musk emphasized this especially after Joe Biden dropped out of the race. Musk and Biden are known to be at odds, and Musk was pleased with Biden's decision. He started by simply liking a post. However, the contribution he served to his millions of followers contained more.
One person wrote: "Joe just dropped out. The democratic elite, media conglomerates, and billionaire donors successfully pressured the democratically elected candidate to quit because he trails in the polls and is losing. The Democrats are destroying democracy in their quest for power." Musk shared this post and wrote "Exactly."
"They fear Trump because he's not a puppet."
Musk then added more fuel to the nearly conspiratorial post: "I heard last week that he was going to drop out at that exact moment. That was common knowledge in DC. The real powers that be are getting rid of the old puppet and replacing him with one who has a better chance of deceiving the public. They fear Trump because he's not a puppet." From whom or where Musk allegedly got this information, he did not mention.
Later, Musk made it very clear which side he is on in this election – if his reported monthly donations of $45 million to Trump weren't clear enough. Musk wrote: "My smartest friends, including those who live in the San Francisco Bay Area and have been Democrats their whole lives, are excited about Trump/Vance. I believe in an America that maximizes the freedom of the individual and their earnings. That was once the Democratic Party, but now the pendulum has swung to the Republican Party."
Further in his posts, Musk celebrated the fact that the news of Biden's withdrawal was first published on his platform and not in traditional media. In fact, Joe Biden first made the announcement in a letter that was first published on X. This is both significant in terms of Musk's relationship with him and in terms of Musk's campaigning for Trump.
Regardless of Joe Biden or Kamala Harris – Musk wants Trump
Musk also shared his views on Vice President Kamala Harris with the world shortly thereafter. He quoted a video of Harris, in which she introduces herself in an unusual way to a group of people using pronouns and definitions of her clothing, and wrote "Imagine four years of this...". What Musk left out, as is often the case, was context. The criticized video of Harris from July 2022 was recorded during a meeting with leading figures in disability rights. Harris spoke inclusively and gave a description of her clothing to blind listeners. This can be criticized and made fun of, but it makes no sense and provides no evaluation of Harris' work.
A final tasteless joke about Biden he couldn't resist. Already on July 18, Musk published a picture of a fisherman with the words: "They will go fishing with Biden soon". He then quoted himself and added: "Poor Fredo". The combination of image and comment are presumably a reference to the film "The Godfather: Part II", in which Fredo Corleone is murdered during an alleged fishing trip. The theory also touches on the idea that someone else could have made the decision for Joe Biden.
Elon Musk, who had difficulties with Biden a few years ago but didn't speak out for Trump in the past election, has been known to hold very right-leaning views in the past. As early as 2022, he declared that he had traditionally voted for the Democrats but was considering changing his mind for the upcoming election. At the very least since his takeover of Twitter, which he renamed X, a noticeable right-wing shift can be observed in the Tech Billionaire.
- Despite Elon Musk's past disagreements with Joe Biden, he openly supports Donald Trump in the current US election campaign on Twitter, as evident in his monthly donations and public posts.
- Musk shared a nearly conspiratorial post about Biden dropping out of the race, suggesting that powerful figures were replacing the "old puppet" with someone who could deceive the public more effectively.
- Musk also criticized Vice President Kamala Harris, sharing a video of her inclusively introducing herself to a group of people and adding his own comments, sparking debate and criticism.
- In the 2022 US election campaign, Musk, the owner of Twitter (formerly X), has emerged as a prominent supporter of the Republican Party, showcasing a noticeable right-wing shift in his public persona.
