Tracking Elon Musk’s Political Activities
Justin Hendrix, Prithvi Iyer / Sep 11, 2024This tracker was first published on August 11, 2024, and is updated intermittently.
Elon Musk photographed at the Miami Grand Prix in May 2023. Cristiano Barni/Shutterstock
Elon Musk, currently the world’s richest person with a combined wealth of more than $220 billion, controls multiple companies, including SpaceX, The Boring Company, Tesla, xAI, and the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. But in recent years, he has also been called a far right activist and a threat to democracy. He has used his ownership of X to engage in various political scuffles around the world, from Brazil to Australia, and launched various lawsuits intended to silence his critics. In the 2024 US presidential election, he endorsed former President Donald Trump, and supports a political action committee dedicated to his reelection.
Given Musk’s significant influence and vast financial resources, Tech Policy Press is tracking key stories and developments related to his involvement in politics and elections, with a keen interest in phenomena related to his ownership of X. Hopefully, the tracker is a useful resource to those considering public policy questions at the intersection of technology and democracy.
This tracker starts at the date of Musk’s endorsement of former President Trump, and will be updated regularly.
September 11, 2024
Trump ally Elon Musk slams Harris: ‘We will never reach Mars if Kamala wins’
“A successful mission to Mars depends on the result of the U.S. presidential election in October, according to SpaceX chief and mega Republican booster Elon Musk. ‘Trump supports a government efficiency commission to allow great things to be done, Kamala does not,’ Musk said on X, adding, ‘We will never reach Mars if Kamala wins.’ Musk went wild on X, the social media platform he owns, in the hours following the first U.S. presidential debate in which Vice President Kamala Harris scored a clear win over former President Donald Trump, whom Musk supports.”
Ketrin Jochecová, Politico
Elon Musk Tweeted a Disturbing Sexual Comment to, Apparently, Taylor Swift
When Taylor Swift signed off her endorsement of Kamala Harris in the 2024 election Tuesday evening by self-identifying as a ‘childless cat lady,’ in a jab at Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, Elon Musk seems to have thought, well, I can change one of those things. ‘Fine Taylor … you win … I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life,’ he tweeted shortly after midnight Wednesday morning.”
-Kase Wickman, Vanity Fair
September 10, 2024
Elon Musk’s misleading election claims reach millions and alarm election officials
“Musk’s online utterances don’t stay online. His false and misleading election posts add to the deluge of inaccurate information plaguing voting officials across the country. Election officials say his posts about supposed voter fraud often coincide with an increase in baseless requests to purge voter rolls and heighten their worry over violent threats. Experts say Musk is uniquely dangerous as a purveyor of misinformation because his digital following stretches well beyond the political realm and into the technology and investment sectors, where his business achievements have earned him credibility.”
-Sarah Ellison, Amy Gardner and Clara Ence Morse
Elon Musk pushes unsubstantiated Arizona voter fraud claims
“Elon Musk — the world's richest man with one of the largest online microphones — is using his social media site X to question Arizona's election system. One of Maricopa County's top elections officials says Musk's recent posts and reposts are amplifying misinformation and false narratives about voter fraud. Election security has become one of the GOP's biggest talking points in Arizona and nationwide since former President Trump's 2020 loss — even though no legal challenges have successfully shown any proof of fraud or other election interference.”
-Jessica Boehm, Axios
September 8, 2024
Elon Musk on pace to become world’s first trillionaire by 2027, report says
“Elon Musk is on pace to become the world’s first trillionaire by 2027, according to a new report from a group that tracks wealth. Informa Connect Academy’s finding about the boss of electric carmaker Tesla, private rocket company SpaceX and social media platform X (formerly Twitter) stems from the fact that Musk’s wealth has been growing at an average annual rate of 110%. He was also the world’s richest person, with $251bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as the academy’s 2024 Trillion Dollar Club report began circulating Friday.”
-Ramon Antonio Vargas, The Guardian
September 7, 2024
Elon Musk’s Pro-Trump PAC Ramps Up Advertising: ‘We Must STOP Kamala’
“Elon Musk’s America PAC is starting to fire up its digital ad campaign in support of Donald Trump’s presidential bid. The messages so far have been targeted at swing-state voters — and are anything but subtle. ‘If you sit this election out, Kamala and the crazies will win’” says an ad on Google’s YouTube, which has been shown at least three million times. ‘You will be stuck with higher costs and more illegals invading our country.’ It paints Trump, by contrast, as an ‘American Badass,’ with a video of the former president after the July assassination attempt that drove Musk to publicly support his candidacy.”
-Dana Hull, Biz Carson, and Bill Allison, Bloomberg
Brazilians Take to Streets to Protest Ban on Elon Musk’s X
“Tens of thousands of supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro took to the streets of Brazil’s biggest city Saturday on the country’s Independence Day to rally against the government and protest the Supreme Court’s ban of Elon Musk’s social-media platform X. Scores of conservative politicians joined the demonstrations, many accusing the court of trying to censor the right-leaning opposition ahead of municipal elections on Oct. 6, when voters will pick mayors and local representatives in thousands of cities and towns.”
-Samantha Pearson, The Wall Street Journal
Donald Trump could turn Elon Musk into an American oligarch
“Former President Donald Trump’s plan to have Elon Musk lead a government efficiency commission would vault the world’s richest man to an unprecedented role: American oligarch. The details of the commission and Musk’s involvement are still vague, but any formal role in government would give greater influence to the billionaire owner of Tesla, Space X, satellite company Starlink and the social media platform X — signature ventures that have benefited from federal contracts, tax credits and government incentives.”
-Liz Crampton, Lara Korte, Derek Robertson and Brendan Bordelon, Politico
September 6, 2024
How Elon Musk Is Influencing Donald Trump
“Mr. Musk, the world’s richest man, has started to influence Mr. Trump as the Republican presidential nominee heads into November’s election. That the tech mogul has the ear of the candidate throws open what each can get out of an alliance — and creates a potential minefield. Their political friendship is particularly tricky because Mr. Musk has a sprawling set of businesses, which may present conflicts of interest if Mr. Trump is elected. Notably, Mr. Musk’s rocket maker, SpaceX, and his electric automaker, Tesla, have received billions of dollars in federal contracts and subsidies. Mr. Musk and some of his companies are also under scrutiny for various infractions from federal agencies including the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission.”
-Ryan Mac, Theodore Schleifer, and Maggie Haberman, The New York Times
September 5, 2024
Elon Musk Has the ‘Off’ Switch
“...Musk is becoming an internet god. Space-based internet and social media are a potent combination, and their control by a single person is quite unprecedented—and alarming in the same manner as a federal government restricting online speech via sweeping decree. Not only can Musk now determine who gains traction on a small but influential corner of the web; in certain corners of the globe, he can also determine who has access to the internet at all, and regulate what people encounter when they use it.”
-Marina Koren, The Atlantic
Trump to Tap Musk to Head Proposed Government Efficiency Commission
“Donald Trump outlined a suite of economic proposals in a speech here Thursday, including formally introducing a government efficiency commission to be headed by Elon Musk, cutting the corporate tax rate to 15% for companies that make products in the U.S. and creating a sovereign-wealth fund. He also said he would rescind certain unspent funds appropriated during the Biden administration and proposed barring people in the country illegally from obtaining a mortgage. The commission would conduct ‘a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government’ and make ‘recommendations for drastic reform,’ the Republican former president said in an appearance before the Economic Club of New York. The goal would be to identify ways to eliminate fraud and improper payments, Trump said.”
-Alex Leary and Richard Rubin, The Wall Street Journal
September 4, 2024
Brazil’s Pressure on X Causes Trouble for Musk’s Web of Businesses
“As X continues to battle governments around the world, and Musk expands his empire into new and ever-expanding industries, these types of clashes are bound to become more common. Any country that takes issue with Musk’s content decisions on X could theoretically get to him by going after Tesla, SpaceX or xAI. The more his companies are intertwined, the more legitimate those attacks will become. Musk’s universe of businesses has made him arguably the most powerful — and wealthiest — man in the world. Ironically, that same universe of businesses may ultimately become one of his biggest threats.”
-Kurt Wagner, Bloomberg
September 3, 2024
Elon Musk’s attacks on Kamala Harris become more unhinged, with help from AI
“By choosing to amplify disinformation and misogynist views, Musk, a South African billionaire who is both the owner of X and the most-followed account on the platform, is promoting radical content to the masses that might otherwise languish in the darkest corners of the internet. By Tuesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after Musk shared the fake image and false statement depicting Harris as a communist, the post had been viewed nearly 60 million times, according to data from X. Musk’s post suggesting women shouldn’t take part in democracy had been viewed more than 19 million times.”
-Donie O’Sullivan, CNN
No X in Brazil? No problem, Brazilians say.
“Last week’s imbroglio has made even more apparent the network’s growing weakness here. Justice Alexandre de Moraes, one of the world’s most aggressive prosecutors against misinformation, ordered X to block accounts that Moraes said were threatening democracy. The judge requested that Musk name a representative in Brazil to carry out judicial orders. Musk refused, Moraes suspended X — and Brazilians shrugged.”
-Terrence McCoy, The Washington Post
Musk’s Right-Wing Allies Seize on Brazil X Ban Heading Into Elections
“Brazil’s ban of social-media platform X may be an economic setback for owner Elon Musk, but it’s also a potential political opportunity for the billionaire and his right-wing allies. Since the network’s shutdown over the weekend, heated arguments about freedom of speech, fake news and online censorship have erupted in Brazil and the US — energizing conservative political movements just as they head into elections in both nations.”
-Daniel Carvalho and Andrew Rosati, Bloomberg
How Elon Musk Is Tying His Love for Trump to His Fight in Brazil
“In recent days, Musk’s Trump-backing has taken a more frenzied turn, with constant tweets about the need to reelect Trump, and warning of dire and increasingly farfetched consequences if he doesn’t retake office. He’s shared a lengthy series of stories about crimes supposedly committed by undocumented people, writing in one instance, ‘So many lives have been lost, because Democrat policies pander to the criminal clients. Criminals vote overwhelmingly Democrat, so they don’t want to lose their votes.’ In a continued fixation on migrants and crime, he’s also reshared posts from Chaya Raichik of the far-right Twitter account Libs of TikTok, in which she claims that ‘migrant gangs’ took over an apartment building in Colorado. (Aurora’s interim chief of police has denied that, telling a local ABC affiliate that ‘gang members have not taken over this complex.’) Musk has also directly linked his Brazilian feud with the need to defeat Kamala Harris, retweeting and agreeing with the account End Wokeness, who wrote, ‘Kamala supports what Brazil just did to X. How do I know? She wants to do it here.’”
-Anna Merlan, Mother Jones
Elon Musk’s Starlink Agrees to Block the X Social Network in Brazil
“Starlink, the satellite-internet service controlled by Elon Musk, reversed course on Tuesday and said it would comply with Brazilian government orders to block Mr. Musk’s social network X in the country. The move was the first sign of any backing down by Mr. Musk in Brazil since he began battling with the authorities there last month.”
-Jack Nicas
Brazil’s president says Elon Musk’s wealth doesn’t mean world has to accept his ‘far-right ideology’
“In an interview released Monday, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said his country’s stand against Musk—the richest person on the planet worth $239 billion per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index—should be an example to the rest of the world. ‘The world is not obliged to put up with Musk’s far-right ideology just because he is rich,’ Lula said in the interview with CNN Brasil.”
-Eleanor Pringle, Fortune
Elon Musk’s Sarcastic AI Image of Kamala Harris as ‘Communist Dictator’ Sparks Controversy on X
“The image, which portrays Harris as a communist ruler, was shared in response to Harris’s post criticizing Donald Trump’s alleged promises of authoritarian rule, in which she said he “vows to be a dictator on day 1.”
-Times of India staff reports
September 2, 2024
Elon Musk suggests support for replacing democracy with government of ‘high-status males’
Elon Musk has used his large platform on X to promote a theory that a free-thinking “Republic” could only exist under the decision-making of “high status males” – and women or “low T men” would not be welcome in it. On Sunday, Musk re-posted a screenshot of the theory – which appears to have been conceived on 4chan in 2021– on the social media site.
-Ariana Baio, The Independent
Brazilian Supreme Court Panel Upholds Order to Block Elon Musk’s X
“A panel of Brazilian Supreme Court justices voted on Monday to uphold a decision by one justice last week to block the social network X across the country because its owner, Elon Musk, refused to comply with court orders to suspend certain accounts. The five-justice panel voted unanimously to back the order, issuing strongly worded opinions saying that the blackout of X complied with Brazilian law and that it was necessary to enforce the nation’s rules against a foreign company that was flouting them.”
-Jack Nicas, The New York Times
Trump eyes plan that may give Elon Musk role in auditing U.S. agencies
“Behind closed doors, former president Donald Trump and his advisers have been talking for months about forming a commission led by prominent business executives to comb through the government books to identify thousands of programs to cut. Lately, one particularly famous candidate has made clear he’d be up for it: Elon Musk. And he may have much to gain personally from the endeavor.”
-Jeff Stein and Trisha Thadani, The Washington Post
September 1, 2024
How Elon Musk’s endorsement of Trump may have backfired
“Elon Musk’s endorsement of former President Donald Trump was meant to buoy the candidate’s chances in November. But more than a month after Musk officially put his weight behind Trump, a series of Democratic attacks have suggested that the endorsement has exposed a vulnerability… But as Trump’s poll numbers have sagged, Musk has shown signs of toning down his enthusiasm, if not outright signs of buyer’s remorse. Musk did not speak at the Republican National Convention, despite early discussions among Trump and his allies for him to do so.”
-David Ingram, NBC News
Musk’s Twitter investors have lost billions in value
“Based on a Washington Post analysis using Fidelity’s estimates, the eight largest initial investments that were reported to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or otherwise publicly disclosed are worth about $5 billion less than when Musk bought X. His and his partners’ overall stake has shed $24 billion in value — a vaporization of wealth that has little parallel outside the realm of economic or industry-specific crashes, or devastating corporate scandals.”
-Faiz Siddiqui, The Washington Post
August 30, 2024
Brazilian Justice orders complete block of X in Brazil
“A Supreme Court Justice ordered, on Friday, the complete suspension of all access to X (formerly Twitter) across the entire Brazilian territory, in an unprecedented ruling against the social platform. In the petition, the Justice, Alexandre de Moraes, ordered the president of Brazil's telecom regulator, Anatel, Carlos Manuel Baigorri, to ensure that necessary measures are taken and that internet companies are notified to block the application within 24 hours. Moraes also said that Apple and Google need to ‘implement technological barriers that would make it impossible’ to use X and VPN applications in Brazil. The block of X/Twitter is not immediate, and internet service providers may take up to one business day after receiving the notice to implement the block.”
-Sérgio Spagnuolo, Sofia Schurig, and Pedro Nakamura, Núcleo Jornalismo
Brazil Blocks X After Musk Ignores Court Orders
“Brazil blocked the social network X on Friday after its owner, Elon Musk, refused to comply with a Brazilian judge’s orders to suspend certain accounts, the biggest test yet of the billionaire’s efforts to transform the site into a digital town square where just about anything goes. Alexandre de Moraes, a Brazilian Supreme Court justice, ordered Brazil’s telecom agency to block access to X across the nation of 200 million because the company lacked a necessary legal representative in Brazil.”
-Jack Nicas and Kate Conger, The New York Times
Brazilian judge orders suspension of X in dispute with Elon Musk
“In Moraes’s order Friday, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, he directs Brazil’s telecommunications agency and internet providers to block users here from accessing X and gives Apple and Google five days to prevent downloads of its app. Google declined to comment. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.”
-Terrence McCoy, Trisha Thadani, and Marina Dias, The Washington Post
Elon Musk says voting by mail is ‘insane’ — but he has done it himself, records show
“Elon Musk has attacked voting by mail as an ‘insane’ idea that encourages election fraud, but he voted by mail twice when he lived in California, according to records of his voting history obtained by NBC News. Musk voted by mail in November 2016, the year Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton, and in the November 2018 midterm election, the records show. Musk’s primary residence was in Los Angeles at the time.”
-David Ingram, NBC News
Musk's X Repeats It Will Not Comply with Court Orders and Expects to Be Blocked in Brazil
“The social network X (formerly Twitter), owned by Elon Musk, stated on Thursday night (29) that it will not comply with orders from Minister Alexandre de Moraes of the Supreme Federal Court and said it expects to be blocked in Brazil. The company's statement was released seven minutes after the deadline set by Moraes (8:07 PM) for it to appoint a legal representative in Brazil.”
-Folha de S.Paulo
August 29, 2024
Musk ramps up attacks on Brazil’s top judge as X faces possible suspension, Starlink finances frozen
“Tesla, SpaceX and X Corp. leader Elon Musk ramped up his online attacks on Brazilian Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes on Thursday, amid an intensifying political and legal battle between the tech billionaire and his companies, and Brazil’s highest court… On Wednesday night, Musk posted a manipulated image that appeared to show the judge behind bars. ‘One day, @Alexandre, this picture of you in prison will be real. Mark my words,’ Musk wrote to de Moraes and Musk’s 195.8 million listed followers on X.”
-Lora Kolodny, CNBC
Explainer: What is Elon Musk's feud with a Brazilian Supreme Court justice about?
“Justice Alexandre de Moraes and Musk have been in a public feud for months, after X failed to comply with legal orders to block certain accounts accused of spreading ‘fake news’ and hate messages. X, formerly known as Twitter, claims Moraes threatened to arrest one of the company's legal representatives in Brazil if it did not comply. Musk's platform has shut all of its Brazil offices due to what it called ‘censorship’ by the judge, though its service has remained available for users in the country.”
-Anthony Boadle, Reuters
X flags NPR story on Trump, Arlington as unsafe
“The social platform X flagged a story from NPR that outlined the fallout of a reported clash between Trump campaign staffers and Arlington National Cemetery officials earlier this week as potentially ‘unsafe.’”
-Dominick Mastrangelo, The Hill
August 28, 2024
Brazil Threatens to Ban Elon Musk’s X
“Brazil’s Supreme Court on Wednesday gave Elon Musk 24 hours to name a legal representative for X in Brazil or face a ban of his social network across the nation of 200 million. Mr. Musk closed X’s office in Brazil last week in protest of orders from a Brazilian Supreme Court justice to suspend certain accounts. If X refuses to comply, it could lose access to one of its largest markets outside the United States — a blow as the company struggles to regain revenue after Mr. Musk battled with advertisers and told them not to spend on the platform. The court posted its order on X on Wednesday night, suggesting that Mr. Musk had until about 8 p.m. local time Thursday to respond.”
-Kate Conger and Jack Nicas, The New York Times
Elon Musk, Eyeing Edge for Trump, Hires Republican Political Adviser
“Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, has hired a Republican operative with expertise in field organizing to help steer his political work, a move that suggests that Mr. Musk is preparing to become even more involved in Republican politics and get-out-the-vote efforts specifically. Chris Young, most recently a senior political official at PhRMA, the trade association of the pharmaceutical industry that does some grass-roots organizing, is joining Mr. Musk’s team, according to three people briefed on the move.”
-Theodore Scheifer, The New York Times
August 27, 2024
Lawmakers call for crackdown on AI deepfakes after Grok backlash
“A group of Democratic lawmakers are pushing the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to increase regulation on artificial intelligence (AI) deepfakes following the release of the social platform X’s chatbot Grok. In a Monday letter to the FEC, Rep. Shontel Brown (D-Ohio) and a handful of other House members asked the regulatory agency to clarify whether AI-generated deepfakes of election candidates are classified as ‘fraudulent misrepresentation.’”
-Miranda Nazzaro, The Hill
August 26, 2024
Elon Musk backs California bill to regulate AI
“Elon Musk on Monday voiced his support for one of the most polarizing artificial intelligence policy proposals in the nation, backing a California bill that would require large-scale models to undergo safety testing. Senate Bill 1047 has been lambasted by tech giants like Marc Andreessen and OpenAI for what they say are vague and burdensome regulations that would have a chilling effect on open-sourced models.”
-Lara Korte, Politico
Judge Blocks Missouri AG’s Elon-Inspired Censorial Vindictive ‘Investigation’ Into Media Matters
“Yet another federal judge has blocked a censorial, vindictive government ‘investigation’ into Media Matters for having the temerity to report on seeing ads on ExTwitter showing up next to neo-Nazi content.”
-Mike Masnick, TechDirt
“X owner Elon Musk has sprung to the defense of the founder of controversial messaging app Telegram, calling for the 39-year-old to be released from French custody… Musk’s X is likewise in the crosshairs of European policymakers, with the EU Commission recently reminding him of its failure to observe the Digital Services Act that requires large platform owners to systematically clamp down on false and misleading content.”
-Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune
August 25, 2024
Elon Musk’s Hard Turn to Politics, in 300,000 of His Own Words
“To understand the political evolution of one of the world’s richest men, the Journal captured nearly 42,000 of Musk’s exchanges on X between 2019 and the end of July. (That’s nearly all his conversations during that period, with a small number of exceptions, such as posts he deleted. Read here for more on methodology.) Musk’s exchanges included roughly 76,000 posts—his tweets as well as his retweets, tweets to which he replied and any quoted tweets. The Journal mapped them using the same technology that powers artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT.”
-Andrea Fuller, Alexa Corse, John West and Kara Dapena, The Wall Street Journal
Trump says Musk wouldn't have time to be in his White House cabinet, but could 'consult'
“Former President Donald Trump said that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk likely couldn’t serve in his hypothetical White House cabinet due to the demanding schedule of running his various companies. Trump’s comment gives him a potential exit ramp from his newly formed alliance with Musk if he wins the November election against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.”
-Rebecca Picciotto, CNBC
Will Elon Musk’s Infatuation With Trump Backfire? History Says Yes
“Like all American citizens, Musk and other CEOs have the right to get involved in American politics, from funding super PACs to working behind the scenes to drum up the vote to giving them an audience on their platforms. But that engagement can come at a cost. History provides a note of caution: TIME founder Henry Luce fully invested himself in promoting the campaign of General Dwight Eisenhower. His full-throated support of Eisenhower, unusual for a media conglomerate, brought short-term benefits — giving him access to Eisenhower in the White House. But ultimately, his enthusiastic embrace of Eisenhower had a detrimental impact on his magazine’s journalistic reputation.”
-Tevi Troy, Politico
August 23, 2024
Elon Musk’s Lawyers Quietly Subpoena Public Interest Groups
“Lawyers representing Elon Musk and X, previously known as Twitter, have quietly begun sending subpoenas to a host of public interest groups, Mother Jones has learned. Most of the targeted organizations have signed open letters to X’s advertisers expressing concerns about the platform’s direction under Musk’s leadership. The groups include the Center for Countering Digital Hate, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the digital rights organization Access Now, and Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). The subpoenas represent a new chapter in the legal war Musk launched after advertisers fled X, and are part of a lawsuit Musk and X first filed about a year ago against Media Matters over a report it published documenting that ads appeared alongside extremist content.”
-Anna Merlan, Mother Jones
August 22, 2024
Elon Musk's America PAC tries to persuade states to drop voter registration investigations
“Elon Musk’s America PAC is trying to persuade election officials in Michigan and North Carolina to back off their investigations of its voter registration practices. And the political action committee may have succeeded at least in part, as Michigan says it hasn’t found evidence of any violations of state campaign finance law but will continue to monitor the situation.”
-David Ingram, NBC News
August 21, 2024
Elon Musk’s X reveals investors in court filing
“Shareholders named in the document include some of Silicon Valley’s most prominent venture capitalists and entrepreneurs — as well as a fund linked with hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs. The filing lists nearly 100 entities with a stake in X, although many appear to represent different funds controlled by the same firm or person. Other investors include venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal al Saud; Twitter founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey; and 8VC, a venture capital firm co-founded by Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of intelligence contractor and data analysis platform Palantir.”
-Trisha Thadani, The Washington Post
X discloses some details about Trump-Musk interview promos
“Former president Donald Trump’s campaign paid more than $40,000 to promote posts on X tied to his interview with Elon Musk, but details about his arrangements with the company remain scant, your co-host Cristiano Lima-Strong reports for Tech Brief… Campaign watchdog groups said the episode put a spotlight on how tech companies have been left to self-police transparency in the U.S. political ad space because of limited regulations. Spokespeople for X and the Trump campaign did not return requests for comment last week.”
-Cristiano Lima/Will Oremus, The Washington Post
August 20, 2024
“Musk and his companies have filed at least 23 lawsuits in federal courts alone since July of 2023, a Fortune analysis of federal court records shows. Combined with state suits, Musk, Tesla, X, and SpaceX have sued competitors, start-ups, law firms, watchdog groups, individuals, the state of California, federal agencies, and popstar Grimes, who is the mother of three of his children. Musk has been so legally aggressive that one judge decided his litigation was more about revenge than justice: 'This case is about punishing the Defendants for their speech,' the judge said. In interviews with Fortune, law professors who have studied Musk said the lawsuits display a combative, often retaliatory approach toward litigation. In cases against small nonprofits that have criticized his content moderation policies on X, as well as suits against the Department of Justice and National Labor Relations Board relating to his treatment of employees, Musk frequently goes on the offensive when his business practices are challenged by outsiders.”
-Seamus Webster, Fortune
Elon Musk's Response After Trump Says He Would Make Him Adviser
“After US Presidential candidate Donald Trump said that he might consider offering Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk an advisory role within his administration, the latter responded with a social media post that read, ‘I am willing to serve.’ The post features Mr Musk standing in front of a podium emblazoned with the words ‘Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).’ The acronym is a playful nod to Dogecoin, the popular cryptocurrency that originated as a meme.”
-Samiran Mishra, NDTV
August 19, 2024
Trump says he would offer Tesla CEO Elon Musk a Cabinet slot, but might end EV tax credit
“Former President Donald Trump on Monday said he would offer Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk a Cabinet position or an advisory role in his administration if he wins a second term in the White House. Trump told Reuters in an interview that he would tap Musk for such a position ‘if he would do it.’”
-Kevin Brueninger, CNBC
August 18, 2024
Inciting rioters in Britain was a test run for Elon Musk. Just see what he plans for America
"In Britain, the canary has sung. This summer we have witnessed something new and unprecedented. The billionaire owner of a tech platform publicly confronting an elected leader and using his platform to undermine his authority and incite violence. Britain’s 2024 summer riots were Elon Musk’s trial balloon. He got away with it. And if you’re not terrified by both the extraordinary supranational power of that and the potential consequences, you should be. If Musk chooses to “predict” a civil war in the States, what will that look like? If he chooses to contest an election result? If he decides that democracy is over-rated? This isn’t sci-fi. It’s literally three months away.”
-Carole Cadwalladr, The Guardian
Elon Musk Closes X Operations in Brazil Over Fight With Judge
“Elon Musk said he closed the Brazilian office of his social network X on Saturday because a Brazilian Supreme Court judge ordered the company to suspend certain accounts or face the arrest of its legal representative in Brazil. X said its service would remain available to users in Brazil. The company did not say how many people it employed in Brazil.”
-Jack Nicas, The New York Times
August 17, 2024
Elon Musk’s rightward turn includes a fringe fascination: Civil war
“Tech billionaire Elon Musk has repeatedly prophesied a future civil war related to immigration. Musk has posted about the subject on his social media platform X at least eight times in the past 10 months, according to a review of his posts by NBC News. And his posts usually include a specific prediction: He thinks that Europe in particular is headed toward a 'civil war' due to the arrival of refugees from other continents.”
-David Ingram, NBC News
A week in tweets: Elon Musk doesn’t stop posting but what is he saying?
“Musk’s agitation over the UK riots seems to have deepened his association with the far right. Over the past week, he has struck up a conversation with the Canadian influencer Lauren Southern, one of three anti-Islam activists who were banned from entering the UK by Theresa May’s government in 2018. As well as chatting about their shared distrust of the media, Musk is now a paid subscriber to her feed, supporting her for £4.92 a month, as he does with more than 160 other users.”
-Alex Hern, The Guardian
August 16, 2024
Elon Musk said he’d eliminate bots from X. Instead, election influence campaigns are running wild
“As X has pulled back from fighting influence operations, the stakes for democracies have only grown. Eighty-two countries will see elections at some point in 2024, including giants like India, South Africa, and Mexico, as well as smaller nations like Rwanda and Sri Lanka that are easily overlooked by moderators. X doesn’t wield influence in all of those countries, but in places where it does, the platform’s indifference to moderation has left democracy alarmingly vulnerable. Organizations that monitor for influence operations globally have already cataloged several other ongoing campaigns, mostly focused on regions where X remains influential. In only the past six months, the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) has registered influence campaigns aimed at discrediting Georgian protestors and spreading confusion around the death of an Egyptian economist — both powered by inauthentic X accounts. Chinese-language spambots have continued to flood sensitive search terms on X, effectively suppressing and harassing dissident Chinese groups on the platform.”
-Russell Brandom, Rest of World
Noxious images spread after Elon Musk launches AI tool with few guardrails
“A flurry of provocative artificial intelligence-generated content has spread across Elon Musk’s social media platform X, including fake images of Vice President Kamala Harris suggestively eating fruit, former president Donald Trump cradling a pregnant Harris’s stomach and hyper-realistic images of chisel-jawed men brandishing Nazi signs. The images stem from new tools on the site that allow users to quickly create photorealistic visuals using a built-in chatbot called Grok, which Musk touted in a post this week as the ‘most fun AI in the world!’”
-Trisha Thadani, Pranshu Verma and Nitasha Tiku, The Washington Post
August 15, 2024
Musk’s Support for Far-Right Voices Is Sowing Discord in Europe
“Even before protestors took to the streets in the UK, the billionaire was responding to a broad array of right-wing European agitators, including Dutch anti-climate activists, Austrian ethnonationalists and an (anonymous) anti-immigrant campaigner from Italy known for spreading dubious claims about various minority groups. And when I say responding, I don’t mean he was doing the good work of fact-checking them. Musk’s actions have lent weight and considerable attention to fringe ideologies, which would have once struggled to gain purchase in Europe’s more staid political traditions. With 194 million followers on X, anything Musk engages with will find a much larger audience than it would otherwise get.”
-Daniel Zuidijk, Bloomberg
Elon Musk’s AI photo tool is generating realistic, fake images of Trump, Harris and Biden
“Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok on Tuesday began allowing users to create AI-generated images from text prompts and post them to X. Almost immediately, people began using the tool to flood the social media site with fake images of political figures such as former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as of Musk himself — some depicting the public figures in obviously false but nonetheless disturbing situations, like participating in the 9/11 attacks.”
-Claire Duffy, CNN
August 14, 2024
Former X employees, experts doubt Musk claim of cyberattack on Trump talk
“Former engineers at X and outside experts cast further doubt Tuesday on Elon Musk’s claim that a 40-minute delay in his Monday audio conversation with Donald Trump was caused by a ‘massive’ cyberattack. Musk said Monday that the technical glitches that stopped the heavily promoted episode on Spaces, X’s live audio platform, from starting on time were because of a distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attack, in which many devices send meaningless data at once to overwhelm an offering. A senior engineer at X told an outside expert late Tuesday that there had been no evidence of an attack, the expert relayed to The Washington Post.”
-Joseph Menn, The Washington Post
Trump-Elon Musk interview violated campaign finance regulations, Democratic PAC claims
“A Democratic political action committee has filed a complaint against former President Donald Trump and the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, alleging that an Aug. 12 interview between Trump and X owner Elon Musk violated Federal Election Commission regulations… The PAC, End Citizens United, alleges that Musk’s advocacy for Trump’s campaign and his use of company resources to resolve the livestream’s tech glitch amounted to an illegal corporate campaign contribution.”
-Maya Homan, USA Today
August 13, 2024
Brussels slaps down Thierry Breton over ‘harmful content’ letter to Elon Musk
“Brussels has accused its internal market commissioner of going rogue by sending a letter to Elon Musk threatening punishment if content posted on social media site X was found to place EU citizens at risk of ‘serious harm’... On Tuesday the European Commission denied Breton had approval from its president Ursula von der Leyen to send the letter. ‘The timing and the wording of the letter were neither co-ordinated or agreed with the president nor with the [commissioners],’ it said. An EU official, who asked not to be named, said: ‘Thierry has his own mind and way of working and thinking.’”
-Alice Hanccok, The Financial Times
EU takes shot at Musk over Trump interview — and misses
“The European Union’s top digital enforcer tried to take on Elon Musk. Within hours, he faced accusations of meddling in American politics and his own staff were back-pedalling hard."
-Mark Scott, Politico
How X owner Elon Musk uses his social platform to amplify his right-wing views
“As X’s owner and most followed user, Elon Musk has increasingly used the social media platform as a megaphone to amplify his political views and, lately, those of right-wing figures he’s aligned with. There are few modern parallels to his antics, but then again there are few modern parallels to Elon Musk himself.”
-Barbara Ortutay, The Associated Press
Elon Musk Throws a Trump Rally
“After an hour of technical difficulties, the resulting ‘X Space’ was something of a digital Trump rally—the former president ranting, as if on the stump, about the recent attempt on his life, the price of bacon, border security, and ‘nuclear warming,’ with gentle, stammering interjections from Musk. For two men obsessed with spectacle, the conversation violated the first rule of attention-seeking: It was meandering and tedious, lacking drama or friction, and Musk’s doormat approach meant that Trump was free to filibuster and lie without interruption—offering up the kind of non sequiturs and irrelevant information that bore even his most loyal supporters. When Trump exhausted himself, Musk, cued only by the awkward silence, would offer his agreement and gingerly pivot to a new topic.”
-Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic
Texas judge steps aside in Elon Musk's X case against advertisers
“A U.S. District Judge in Texas has recused himself from a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk’s X days after NPR drew scrutiny to the judge’s investment in Tesla and questions about Musk using the court to engage in ‘forum-shopping’ … In November, Musk’s X sued watchdog group Media Matters over reports the group released highlighting white nationalist content appearing next to brands that advertised on the platform. In that case, O’Connor has issued sweeping rulings in favor of Musk, including granting Musk’s lawyers wide latitude to request hundreds of pages of documents from the nonprofit, a process known as legal discovery.”
-Bobby Allyn, NPR
Elon Musk’s surging political activism
"Beyond the self-serving speciousness of Maduro’s actions, his concerns about Musk’s propensity to meddle in politics and the affairs of nations are not without foundation. Since Musk acquired Twitter, in 2022—and rebranded it as X, a year ago—the onetime libertarian multibillionaire has increasingly propagated far-right viewpoints. He endorsed a post on X promoting an antisemitic conspiracy theory, shared a since-deleted link to unsubstantiated claims involving the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband, and said that 'the Biden-Harris Administration is importing vast numbers of voters.' Musk’s interventions in global politics extend beyond his bully pulpit at X; he has played an ambiguous role in Ukraine, allowing Kyiv to use his Starlink satellite system but opposing the Biden Administration’s policy toward the war. But he has escalated his use of his social-media platform this year on behalf of foreign leaders, including Argentina’s self-described 'anarcho-capitalist' Javier Milei and Brazil’s former ultra-rightist President Jair Bolsonaro, both admirers of Donald Trump."
-Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker
August 12, 2024
Trump Regales Elon Musk With Familiar Falsehoods
“Former President Donald J. Trump repeated a number of inaccurate claims that have become campaign staples in a conversation on Monday night with the billionaire Elon Musk on X, his social media platform.”
-Linda Qiu, The New York Times
EU’s Breton warns Musk on hate speech ahead of Trump interview; receives profane response
“The European Union's digital enforcer wrote an open letter to tech mogul Elon Musk on Monday ahead of a planned interview with former United States President Donald Trump to remind him of the EU’s rules on promoting hate speech… Responding to Breton, Musk tweeted out a meme containing the words: ‘Take a big step back and literally, fuck your own face!’”
-Seb Starcevic, Politico
Trump Returns to X in Victory for Elon Musk
“Donald J. Trump posted on X Monday morning, handing a victory to Elon Musk, the social media platform’s owner, who for months has urged the former president to use the site again… Mr. Trump’s return to X after nearly a year of silence could provide a needed boost to the platform, which has faced increased competition from a rash of new social media platforms, including the former president’s Truth Social. X has also struggled to overcome skepticism from advertisers, especially after Mr. Musk sued an influential advertising coalition last week. But if Mr. Trump returns as a power user of the site, which helped fuel his political rise, it could attract new interest from political advertisers.”
-Kate Conger, The New York Times
Inside Elon Musk’s Hands-On Push to Win 800,000 Voters for Trump
“Musk is tackling the election effort in his signature hands-on, chaos-be-damned style, echoing his 2022 takeover of Twitter and early efforts to meet Tesla’s production goals. Whether he and the team he has assembled succeed could be an important part of the election puzzle, and some Republican political operatives said they fear the early stumbles could be costly for the Trump campaign. The recent overhaul means America PAC, formed in May, is resetting about a month before early voting starts and fewer than 90 days before the presidential election. But the super PAC’s new leadership is confident it can execute the group’s mandate and the Trump camp has expressed support for the recent changes.”
-Dana Mattioli, Joe Palazzolo, and Emily Glazer, The Wall Street Journal
Elon Musk should face arrest if he incited UK rioters, says ex-Twitter chief
“Elon Musk should face ‘personal sanctions’ and even the threat of an ‘arrest warrant’ if found to be stirring up public disorder on his social media platform, a former Twitter executive has said. It cannot be right that the billionaire owner of X, and other tech executives, be allowed to sow discord without personal risks, Bruce Daisley, formerly Twitter’s vice-president for Europe, Middle East and Africa, writes in the Guardian. He said the prime minister, Keir Starmer, should ‘beef up’ online safety laws and reflect on whether the media regulator, Ofcom, ‘is fit to deal with the blurringly fast actions of the likes of Musk.’”
-Carolyn Davies, The Guardian
August 11, 2024
Elon Musk’s X feed becomes megaphone for his far-right politics
“Musk’s openly partisan participation on the site he bought in October 2022 reflects a broader evolution in his public persona from business-minded tech prodigy to right-wing firebrand. It has also raised questions about Musk’s intentions for the social networking site, which he said he purchased to promote free speech and a more open exchange of ideas. In some ways, the site has become a personal megaphone for his provocative political views.”
-Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill, The Washington Post
August 9, 2024
Elon Musk and the danger to democracy
“In the last few days, he has commented repeatedly on the racist riots in Britain. He has forecast a coming UK civil war, condemned Britain’s prime minister Sir Keir Starmer for alleged bias towards non-whites and implied that Britain’s immigration policies were responsible for the murder of three girls last week in Southport. Posts by figures who were banned under Twitter’s previous ownership, such as Tommy Robinson, a fringe and four-times-jailed extreme right British activist, have gone viral. On Thursday, Musk promoted another far right British figure — Ashlea Simon, co-founder of Britain First, also a white supremacist splinter group — who claimed Starmer planned to send British rioters to detention camps in the Falkland Islands. Simon’s post cited a fake Daily Telegraph story carrying that headline, a story the Telegraph quickly pointed out was invented. Musk deleted his tweet but only after it had made about 2mn impressions and with no apology for his error.”
-Edward Luce, Financial Times
Britain’s riots put spotlight on far-right misinformation
“Rather than reckoning with the toxic misinformation enabled by his platform, Musk seemed to encourage it, boosting the hysteria of far-right commentators and adding his own. He remarked that 'civil war is inevitable' in Britain and accused the Labour prime minister of being unduly harsh on the far-right protesters. Musk’s animosity here is hardly new. Under his watch, X has reactivated a host of incendiary, oft-racist accounts, some of which played a role in fanning the flames last week.”
-Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post
Elon Musk’s journey from humanitarian to poster of rightwing memes
“Once, the chief executive of one of the world’s largest companies approvingly sharing a fabricated headline published by the leadership of a fascist party would have been news. For Elon Musk, it was just Thursday.”
-Alex Hern, The Guardian
August 8, 2024
Elon Musk's misleading election claims have accrued 1.2 billion views on X, new analysis says
“False or misleading claims about the U.S. election that Elon Musk has posted to X this year have generated nearly 1.2 billion views, according to an analysis published Thursday by the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate. Researchers from the center said they identified 50 instances this year when Musk posted election claims that have been debunked by independent fact-checkers but spread widely on the app anyway.”
-David Ingram, NBC News
August 7, 2024
North Carolina investigating Elon Musk's new pro-Trump PAC
“Multiple state agencies are looking into whether a political action committee backing former Republican President Donald Trump, and backed by the world’s richest person, has been committing civil or criminal violations in North Carolina. Elections officials have launched an investigation into the allegations, which revolve around claims that America PAC falsely told North Carolinians it was registering them to vote, a spokesman for the State Board of Elections confirmed Wednesday…. America PAC is backed by Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, who tops the Forbes list of world billionaires, as well as several other wealthy tech industry insiders.”
-Will Doran, WRAL News
Elon Musk Has Turned X Into His Personal Political Playground
“Ahead of the US elections, Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, has used the platform as his own personal political bullhorn…. Former Twitter trust and safety employees say that Musk’s increasingly partisan behavior around the US elections and other major events is a sign that he is doing exactly what he accused the company’s former leadership of doing: playing politics.”
-Vittoria Elliott, WIRED
Trump announces ‘major interview’ with Elon Musk
“Former United States President and Republican nominee Donald Trump will sit down with tech billionaire Elon Musk for an interview next week, he said Tuesday.”
-Seb Starcevic, Politico
Trump strikes softer tone on EVs after Musk endorsement
“Former President Trump has softened his tone on electric vehicles (EVs) following his backing from Tesla’s Elon Musk. Over the weekend, Trump said, ‘I’m for electric cars. I have to be, because Elon endorsed me very strongly. So I have no choice.’”
-Rachel Frazin, The Hill
It’s Elon Musk’s X and governments are having to live with it
“The biggest spreader of political divisiveness and incendiary posts on Elon Musk’s revamped Twitter is turning out to be Musk himself. In just the last two weeks on the platform — since rebranded X — the billionaire provocateur unloaded a string of posts that poured fuel on the fire of Britain’s worst anti-immigration riots in decades; shared a doctored video of Vice President Kamala Harris deeming herself the ’ultimate diversity hire’ for president; and claimed without evidence that the Biden-Harris administration is ‘importing vast numbers’ of illegal aliens to swing the November election.”
-John Sakellariadis, Christine Mui, and Brittany Gibson, Politico
August 6, 2024
Elon Musk Is Helping Fuel the Flames of Far-Right Rioting on X
“Instead of condemning the violence spurred on partly by his own platform, Musk appears to be squaring up for a fight…. The UK government has already condemned the world's richest person over a comment he posted claiming ‘civil war is inevitable’ below a video of the far-right disorder. Downing Street said there was ‘no justification’ for the comments and called on social media companies to do more about the spread of misinformation. Musk later hit back at Prime Minister Kier Starmer for commenting that attacks on mosques or Muslim communities would not be tolerated, asking: ‘Shouldn't you be concerned about attacks on all communities?’"
-Beatrice Nolan, Business Insider
August 5, 2024
Musk's AI chatbot spread election misinformation, secretaries of state say
“Five secretaries of state sent a letter to Elon Musk Monday imploring him to fix X's AI chatbot after it shared misinformation about the 2024 presidential election.”
-Ivana Saric, Axios
Elon Musk’s X Is Helping Trump Lie About Kamala
“Another deepfake of Harris gained momentum after Musk himself shared a doctored audio recording of Harris on July 27 in which she appears to say she’s ‘the ultimate diversity hire’ and accuses anyone of not voting for her as ‘sexist’ and ‘racist.’ ‘This is amazing,’ Musk wrote alongside a laughing emoji, disseminating the fake audio to his 192 million followers with zero additional context.”
-Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling, The New Republic
August 4, 2024
Elon Musk PAC being investigated by Michigan secretary of state for potential violation
“A political action committee backed by billionaire Elon Musk is being investigated by the Michigan secretary of state’s office amid efforts to collect voter data. Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has said he created and helped fund the America PAC, which is supporting former President Donald Trump. Musk has a net worth of over $225 billion, according to Forbes.”
-Brian Schwartz, CNBC
Secretaries of state urge Musk to fix AI chatbot spreading false election info
“Five secretaries of state plan to send an open letter to billionaire Elon Musk on Monday, urging him to ‘immediately implement change’” to X’s AI chatbot Grok, after it shared with millions of users false information suggesting that Kamala Harris was not eligible to appear on the 2024 presidential ballot.”
-Sarah Ellison and Amy Gardner, The Washington Post
August 2, 2024
How an Elon Musk PAC is using voter data to help Trump beat Harris in 2024 election
“The combination of owning a social media company that gives him an enormous platform to push his political views, and creating a PAC with effectively unlimited resources, has made Musk, for the first time, a major force in an American presidential election.”
-Brian Schwartz, CNBC
August 1, 2024
Elon Musk Says He Would Recognize a Harris Election Victory
“The tech billionaire’s support of Trump and dog whistles about interference—all those imagined imported voters—invites the possibility that he could be an influential voice in resisting a Harris victory. His posts make it easy to think he might join in encouraging open revolt, even violence, if MAGA supporters are once again egged on by Trump—he could also actively suppress counter-perspectives through his control of the X platform, if he so desires.”
-Damon Beres, The Atlantic
Elon Musk is taking a larger role in the election. Can he influence voters?
“Less than a week after Elon Musk publicly endorsed the candidacy of former President Donald Trump, he shared an edited video of Vice President Kamala Harris that used artificial intelligence to mimic her voice. Musk, the wealthiest person in the world, spread the video on his social media platform X, where he boasts 192 million followers. The post appeared to violate X policies that disallow sharing ‘synthetic, manipulated or out-of-context media.’ Later, Musk defended the video as parody, which is permitted on the platform when adequately labeled. A similar firestorm broke out this week after X suspended an account affiliated with a fundraising drive in support of Harris called ‘White Dudes for Kamala.’”
-Max Zahn, ABC News
July 31, 2024
Musk-Backed Super PAC Shakes Up Pro-Trump Field Program
“A new super PAC with ties to Elon Musk is shaking up its field operation, in a major change to what has been envisioned as a significant canvassing program working on behalf of former President Donald J. Trump. The decision is a stark reversal for the group, America PAC, and reveals a rocky start for Mr. Musk and his allies in their first stab at significant political work. The super PAC has one of the most ambitious plans of any outside group seeking to influence the 2024 presidential election. It hopes to spend enormous sums to effectively build a new G.O.P. ground game that could coordinate with the Trump campaign in a novel way.”
-Theodore Schleifer, The New York Times
July 29, 2024
How Elon Musk came to endorse Donald Trump
“In May, Musk helped launch America PAC, which in a little over a month reported raising $8.5 million, much of it from Silicon Valley. Musk has signaled that he will donate, too, but he denied a report in the Wall Street Journal that he would give the group $45 million a month. Musk’s presence at the Palm Beach event marked the culmination of a political transformation for the world’s richest person, who has said he favored Biden in 2020. But in the four years since, Musk’s relationship with the Biden administration steadily soured.”
-Josh Dawsey, Eva Dou and Faiz Siddiqui, The Washington Post
July 23, 2024
“Elon Musk is not spending $45 million a month to elect former President Donald Trump, though he has created a new super political action committee (PAC) to fund the Republican candidate, the billionaire told conservative commentator Jordan Peterson during an interview Monday evening.”
-Eva Roytburg, Fortune
July 20, 2024
“Mr. Musk has transformed himself from an idealistic supporter of Democrats like Barack Obama into a fierce ally of Mr. Trump, whom he flirted with for months and endorsed last weekend roughly 30 minutes after the former president survived an assassination attempt. In fact, Mr. Trump’s campaign at one point had talked with Mr. Musk about him delivering remarks at this week’s Republican National Convention.”
-Theodore Schleifer and Ryan Mac, The New York Times
July 16, 2024
“Musk will donate $45 million per month to the super PAC America PAC, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, though Federal Election Committee filings do not show Musk has yet contributed to the PAC as of June 30.”
-Brian Bushard, Fortune
Elon Musk Enters Uncharted Territory With Trump Endorsement
“Roughly 30 minutes after former President Donald J. Trump was shot at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, Elon Musk backed his bid for the White House. ‘I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,’ Mr. Musk wrote on X, the social media platform he owns, sharing a video of Mr. Trump raising his fist. In more than 100 posts after the shooting, Mr. Musk further stepped up his political speech. And on Monday, after Mr. Trump announced that Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio would be his Republican running mate, Mr. Musk posted congratulations and said it was an ‘excellent decision by @realDonaldTrump.’ With those moves, Mr. Musk, 53, entered uncharted territory. He broke with tradition set by the leaders of other major social media firms, none of whom have endorsed a presidential candidate. By using X as a megaphone for his politics — posting to his nearly 190 million followers — Mr. Musk also erased any air of neutrality for the platform.”
-Kate Conger and Ryan Mac
How Elon Musk's empire changes with a second Trump term
“Musk's empire was built with government support — and he has a vested interest in keeping it that way.”
-Nathan Bomey, Axios
July 15, 2024
Elon Musk Allies Help Start Pro-Trump Super PAC - The New York Times
“Some of Elon Musk’s closest friends have helped start a new super PAC meant to help former President Donald J. Trump, creating an avenue for Mr. Musk and his $250 billion fortune to potentially play a significant role in the 2024 presidential race.”
-Theodore Schleifer, The New York Times
July 13, 2024
Elon Musk Endorses Donald Trump Following Assassination Attempt at Campaign Rally
“Following a violent shooting incident during a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania at which former President Donald Trump was injured and a spectator and the shooter were killed, billionaire Elon Musk offered his full endorsement of former President Trump.”
-Justin Hendrix, Tech Policy Press
