The owner of the social platform X, Elon Musk, has emblazoned his presence in the 2024 election in the past few weeks in an unprecedented manner. Although other moguls and celebrities have been seen endorsing, donating and supporting candidates, Musk’s backing of Donald Trump is unparalleled.
Musk attended and spoke at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania — the same town where the first attempt on Trump’s life occurred. This was a clever campaign move by the Trump team; it showed his relentless fearlessness and desire to win Pennsylvania, one of the key states in the election less than a month away. There to preach Trumpisms and jump for joy was none other than Musk himself.
Why Musk decided to make an appearance at this particular rally is unclear and somewhat needless. However, he took to the stage regardless to speak his strong praises of the former president.
“We had one president who couldn’t climb a flight of stairs,” Musk said, referring to Joe Biden as Trump looked on in admiration, “and another who is fist pumping after getting shot. FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! Blood coming down the face.”
It’s a powerful sentiment coming from the same stage that a bullet was fired in the former president’s direction this summer. The crowd loved it, Trump loved it. Both Musk and Trump spoke and stood behind a layer of bulletproof glass.
Speaking at a Trump rally is only one of the ways Musk has had a hand in this election. Musk has endlessly promoted Trump on his platform, X. He has blasphemously gone after Vice President Kamala Harris in many posts and has been quite conspiratorial in others.
Despite Musk’s continued praise toward Trump as of his July 13 endorsement, which came on the same day Trump was shot in the ear, it hasn’t always been friendly between the two.
During the 2016 election, Musk called Trump “not the right guy” for president. Years later, in 2022 when Musk was attempting to buy Twitter, now X, Trump called Musk a “bullshit artist.”
The battle goes on. Musk later said, on X, that he would be supporting Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida in the 2024 election because it was “time for Trump to hang up his hat and sail into the sunset.” Obviously, Trump did not hang up his hat, and just as obviously, Musk has changed his mind about both Trump and DeSantis.
Musk stood on the rally stage wearing a Make America Great Again hat. But not just any normal MAGA hat; it was a black MAGA hat. “As you can see, I’m not just MAGA. I’m dark MAGA,” Musk said.
Such a statement is scary coming from anyone, let alone the richest man in the world. If one wants to identify with the MAGA slogan, go for it, but to call oneself dark MAGA — well, that’s just horrifying.
To be clear, no one should be calling themselves dark anything. Imagine if Kim Kardashian took the stage at a Harris rally and said she was a ‘dark Kamala supporter.’ That’s just as scary. Think about it: if Kardashian came out and said she didn’t think ‘Kamala is brat’ but that ‘Kamala is dark brat,’ it would be alarming. Kardashian, however, has not set up a control room for Harris like Musk has for Trump.
In May, America PAC, a political action committee backed and founded by Musk himself in support of Trump, was launched. America PAC has a home base in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Musk has made it his mission to win Pennsylvania — a state with much importance in deciding the election — for Trump.
It almost seems as if he’s abandoned his duties at SpaceX, Tesla and X to do so. Musk stated that he would go as far as physically knocking on neighborhood doors in Pennsylvania if it meant it would help Trump win.
Musk has pumped millions of dollars into America PAC and the Trump campaign alike, attempting to elect Trump once more. On the rally stage in Pennsylvania, Musk encouraged every voter present, and those not, to persuade and “to be a pest” about getting people to register to vote and to actually go vote.
This is a positive sentiment. Citizens should go vote. But Musk said other things that were far too hypocritical.
“If people don’t know what’s going on, if they don’t know the truth, how can you have free speech?” Musk said.
X is a leader in contributing to misinformation. Sure, misinformation is free speech, but that does not make it healthy or helpful. It makes things confusing and convoluted, which is something Trump has already mastered.
“How can you make an informed vote? You must have free speech in order to have a democracy. That’s why it’s the First Amendment,” Musk said.
It should then be asked to Musk himself: How can you make an informed vote if the social media platform you own is contributing to the convolution between truth and falsity? This is a question for Trump as well, who riddles debate stages and rally stages with his confusion of facts and fallacies. This worryingly makes them a perfect pair.
