Elon Musk loves Donald Trump. He’s been just about his largest supporter – and patron – within the 2024 election, particularly after Trump’s near-assassination in July. The person reveals up at Trump’s rallies, jumps like a “dipshit” and yaps about how nice he’s and the way he’ll save the nation. It’s all very bizarre.
Anyway, we all know how Musk has been supporting Trump: via social media posts and his America PAC which he has donated over $70 million, however we don’t actually know why he’s doing it. Why would this man spend over $100 million simply to get somebody he likes elected? Would a Harris presidency actually be that a lot totally different for the world’s richest man? In a brand new story, Vox takes a deep dive into precisely why Musk sees Trump as such an awesome match, and it’s not simply because he’s cute they usually each hate anybody who isn’t a cis white male.
The author spoke with one other Vox reporter, Whizy Kim, who has been reporting on every part Elon for years now, to attempt to determine what he sees within the former president, what he actually needs, and what he’ll do if he will get it. From Vox:
Persona-wise, and simply by way of their worldview, what I actually observed from the X dialog that that they had in August was that they each come from a spot of feeling personally aggrieved. Trump at many factors talked about how his opponents had engaged unfairly towards him, all of those legal court docket circumstances towards him, these trials, as a result of they don’t need him to win the election. They’ve each steadily been critics of the media. Elon Musk has additionally talked about how legacy media is actually biased and doesn’t platform the reality. They may kind of take a look at one another and say, “Yeah, you get me. We’ve each been unfairly attacked.”
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Below the Biden administration, Elon Musk felt that loads of these regulatory companies are staffed with people who find themselves maintaining an in depth eye over company misbehavior. His firms have been investigated or fined by totally different authorities companies, whether or not it’s the Labor Board, OSHA, the SEC, or the Division of Transportation, and Elon Musk sees this as unfair. Even when he acknowledges that his firms didn’t observe security laws, he’ll be like, effectively, these security measures are silly, anyway. I feel I do know finest. I run my firm. I’m an professional in these fields. The federal government is simply clunky and slowing us down.
One of many issues that he proposed in the course of the Trump interview was some kind of authorities effectivity fee. And Trump was sort of like, oh, yeah, that’s a good suggestion … and perhaps you possibly can assist run it. Primarily, that sort of fee would slash the budgets of loads of regulatory companies.
Trump and Musk are kind of framing that as making a authorities that’s extra wise and environment friendly in regards to the funds, however actually, it might additionally probably function a option to flush the budgets of companies which have been coming after his firms. If he has Trump’s ear, you realize, he might say, “Nicely, perhaps if you wish to appoint a brand new particular person to the Labor Board, it needs to be somebody extra pleasant to companies, reasonably than to employees.” That’s a possible sort of alliance that they might kind.
For Musk’s sake, he higher hope this masterful gamit pays off. He’s actually painted himself right into a nook that’ll be exhausting to come back again from if Trump loses on November 5:
I do suppose that he’ll proceed to be extra politically vocal, as a result of he’s opened up a can of worms. It’s more durable to return when there’s an extended document of him popping out for a Trump crowd, formally endorsing him, and all of that.
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[O]ne of the explanation why these rich, influential figures attempt to keep quiet is as a result of they wish to play each side, proper? Elon Musk has come out so vociferously as pro-Trump and criticizing Biden and criticizing Kamala Harris. If Kamala Harris wins, is there room for Elon to come back again and say, “Hey, let’s nonetheless work collectively in some capability?” That’s going to be a a lot more durable highway.
