Why Elon Musk suddenly wants to mask his Trump support
During a live-streamed interview Monday evening, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that he will not be donating millions of dollars every month to Donald Trump, rejecting reports like one that appeared in The Wall Street Journal earlier this month. “What’s been reported in the media is simply not true,” Musk told right-wing commentator Jordan Peterson. “I am not donating $45 million a month to Trump.” But just because Musk says he’s not funneling money to Trump doesn’t make it true. As the original story in the Journal reported, Musk is dropping his cash into America PAC, a super PAC focused on registering conservative voters and countering Democratic “get out the vote” efforts. He also retweeted and confirmed a post saying “Elon Musk went from being an Obama voter to pledging $180 million to elect DJT. The woke left really f*cked up. Badly.” Musk still insists he’s donated to a PAC whose mission is to help Trump get elected. On the day after Trump’s attempted assassination, Musk formally endorsed Trump. That also hasn’t changed despite Trump’s promises to eliminate tax credits for electric vehicles—which benefit Tesla. So why is Musk trying to pretend he’s not supporting Trump? Because of what has changed: Tesla’s profits. On Tuesday, Tesla reported that its second-quarter earnings had taken a whopping 45% drop and that its quarterly profitability was at the lowest level in five years. That should not be surprising. In May, Musk insisted that he wanted to help Trump combat nonexistent voter fraud. Along with fellow billionaire Nelson Peltz, Musk recently began a kind of billionaire boys’ club in support of Trump. That included holding breakfast meetings at Peltz’s Florida mansion, where Trump and his son Barron shared a meal with Musk and other tech broligarchs. They may be the only guys who think that the selection of JD Vance was a good idea. Musk may have been thrilled that he could support a party that shared his beliefs that workplace diversity initiatives are behind all the world’s ills, and that shares his hatred for the “woke mind virus” and transgender people. But he didn’t seem to consider the consequences. A Gallup poll in early 2023 showed that the vast majority of those interested in buying an electric vehicle are Democrats. Seventy-six percent of Democrats said they were either seriously considering or might consider an EV. That’s in addition to the 6% of Democrats who already own an electric vehicle. Meanwhile, 71% of Republicans said they would not buy an electric vehicle. It’s not hard to see why Republicans are so anti-EV when Trump and Vance both regularly launch attacks on EVs. Tesla may be the world’s largest EV manufacturer, but Trump regularly claims that soon all EVs will be made in China, while Vance wants to take away incentives to buy electric vehicles and give them to gas vehicles instead. Trump has promised to end EV support on "day one" if he returns to power, which would devastate Tesla and other EV manufacturers in the U.S.—and hand a huge opportunity to Chinese manufacturers. Republicans don’t like EVs. Democrats do. And Musk has done everything he can to piss off his customer base. The problem for Musk is that very few Democrats are now willing to buy a Tesla following Musk's endorsement of Trump in May. The favorability rating of the Tesla brand among Democrats plummeted to just 16% in July. That’s less than half the rating the company held at the beginning of the year, and that number was already down thanks to Musk’s remarks on X, formerly Twitter. Musk’s endorsement of Trump has absolutely tanked interest in buying his cars. And what makes it extra sweet is that over the same period, support for the company also fell among Republicans. With all this, it’s not exactly shocking that Musk may be trying to put some distance between himself and Trump by claiming that his PAC is not “hyperpartisan” and that he doesn’t believe in MAGA or the personality cult of Trump. But no one should buy it. They shouldn’t buy Musk’s claims … or his cars. Because the money he is putting into America PAC is simply helping Trump and other Republican candidates. That’s true even if it doesn’t end up in their bank accounts. And it may end up in their bank accounts. However, as USA Today noted on Monday, Musk likes to make big promises and capture the news cycle but his “record on follow-through is spotty.” So no matter what Musk says, Trump shouldn't count on that money until the check has cleared. Just ask anyone still waiting for “full self-driving.” It’s funny that Musk’s claim that he is not funding Trump came just after Vice President Kamala Harris kicked off her campaign. ActBlue has now raised more than Musk’s $180 million contribution to the Republicans, and they’ve done it in just three days, with the help of hundreds of thousands of donors. Join them by giving $10 to support Kamala Harris for President!
JoriPress
During a live-streamed interview Monday evening, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that he will not be donating millions of dollars every month to Donald Trump, rejecting reports like one that appeared in The Wall Street Journal earlier this month.
“What’s been reported in the media is simply not true,” Musk told right-wing commentator Jordan Peterson. “I am not donating $45 million a month to Trump.”
But just because Musk says he’s not funneling money to Trump doesn’t make it true. As the original story in the Journal reported, Musk is dropping his cash into America PAC, a super PAC focused on registering conservative voters and countering Democratic “get out the vote” efforts. He also retweeted and confirmed a post saying “Elon Musk went from being an Obama voter to pledging $180 million to elect DJT. The woke left really f*cked up. Badly.”
Musk still insists he’s donated to a PAC whose mission is to help Trump get elected. On the day after Trump’s attempted assassination, Musk formally endorsed Trump. That also hasn’t changed despite Trump’s promises to eliminate tax credits for electric vehicles—which benefit Tesla.
So why is Musk trying to pretend he’s not supporting Trump? Because of what has changed: Tesla’s profits.
On Tuesday, Tesla reported that its second-quarter earnings had taken a whopping 45% drop and that its quarterly profitability was at the lowest level in five years.
That should not be surprising.
In May, Musk insisted that he wanted to help Trump combat nonexistent voter fraud. Along with fellow billionaire Nelson Peltz, Musk recently began a kind of billionaire boys’ club in support of Trump. That included holding breakfast meetings at Peltz’s Florida mansion, where Trump and his son Barron shared a meal with Musk and other tech broligarchs. They may be the only guys who think that the selection of JD Vance was a good idea.
Musk may have been thrilled that he could support a party that shared his beliefs that workplace diversity initiatives are behind all the world’s ills, and that shares his hatred for the “woke mind virus” and transgender people. But he didn’t seem to consider the consequences.
A Gallup poll in early 2023 showed that the vast majority of those interested in buying an electric vehicle are Democrats. Seventy-six percent of Democrats said they were either seriously considering or might consider an EV. That’s in addition to the 6% of Democrats who already own an electric vehicle.
Meanwhile, 71% of Republicans said they would not buy an electric vehicle. It’s not hard to see why Republicans are so anti-EV when Trump and Vance both regularly launch attacks on EVs. Tesla may be the world’s largest EV manufacturer, but Trump regularly claims that soon all EVs will be made in China, while Vance wants to take away incentives to buy electric vehicles and give them to gas vehicles instead. Trump has promised to end EV support on "day one" if he returns to power, which would devastate Tesla and other EV manufacturers in the U.S.—and hand a huge opportunity to Chinese manufacturers.
Republicans don’t like EVs. Democrats do. And Musk has done everything he can to piss off his customer base.
The problem for Musk is that very few Democrats are now willing to buy a Tesla following Musk's endorsement of Trump in May. The favorability rating of the Tesla brand among Democrats plummeted to just 16% in July. That’s less than half the rating the company held at the beginning of the year, and that number was already down thanks to Musk’s remarks on X, formerly Twitter.
Musk’s endorsement of Trump has absolutely tanked interest in buying his cars. And what makes it extra sweet is that over the same period, support for the company also fell among Republicans.
With all this, it’s not exactly shocking that Musk may be trying to put some distance between himself and Trump by claiming that his PAC is not “hyperpartisan” and that he doesn’t believe in MAGA or the personality cult of Trump.
But no one should buy it. They shouldn’t buy Musk’s claims … or his cars. Because the money he is putting into America PAC is simply helping Trump and other Republican candidates. That’s true even if it doesn’t end up in their bank accounts. And it may end up in their bank accounts.
However, as USA Today noted on Monday, Musk likes to make big promises and capture the news cycle but his “record on follow-through is spotty.” So no matter what Musk says, Trump shouldn't count on that money until the check has cleared.
Just ask anyone still waiting for “full self-driving.”
