By Elizabeth Gillen
Elon Musk has become a prominent figure in American politics in recent months. His apparent closeness to Trump, and increasing level of influence, is bringing into question the ethics of a non-elected person having so much political control. Will the next four years of Trump’s presidency going to be marked by Elon Musk’s influence?
Elon Musk received international attention on January 20th, 2025, after he performed what appeared to be a fascist salute at the Presidential Inauguration of Trump. Ruth-Ben Ghiat, a history professor at New York University, believed that ‘it was a Nazi salute’, while supporters of Musk claim that it was simply an awkward gesture. This event raised questions about the morality of an unelected businessman wielding so much power in government, especially considering that his business empire benefits from $38 billion in government aid. How did Musk get to the podium in the first place, and what does it mean for the future of politics in America or further afield?
Shifting political views
Before Elon Musk’s current involvement in American politics, his political views were rather elusive. Previous to Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter (now known as X), he was most renowned as a businessman, well known for Tesla and SpaceX. Historically, Elon Musk has described himself as a centrist, or to be more specific, ‘half conservative and half liberal’. This is contrary to his peers at Silicon Valley, who are overwhelmingly described as liberal. He has consistently been an enthusiast for the First Amendment (which relates to freedom of speech, among other things), which gives context to his later acquisition of free speech. Previously, he has rarely given any large political donations to campaigns, in contrast to other billionaires at a similar standing to him. Any donations that were made were tactical, being that they were to politicians in states where Tesla has large manufacturing operations. On the second of September 2021 he tweeted, ‘I believe government should rarely impose its will upon the people… that being said, I would prefer to stay out of politics’. So, we therefore must ask ourselves when and why Elon Musk decided it was so necessary to get involved in American politics.
The acquisition of Twitter
Musk’s reasons for buying X were, in his opinion, due to a rise in censorship that was excessively targeting conservative voices, which is fitting for his previous support of the First Amendment. In his words, he wanted to ‘restore the voice of the people’. This has resulted in a sharp rise in controversial tweets, as a study reveals that of a sample of 50,000 tweets flagged for hate speech, 54% of those were posted after the change in ownership in 2022. There are also specific examples of hate rhetoric being tolerated, such as a handle containing a slur being allowed to gain a verification blue checkmark. In general, there has been a 220% increase in the use of slurs in tweets since the acquisition. However, these changes haven’t been fully beneficial for X. User engagement has fallen 15%, and ad revenue has fallen 45%. There have been attempts for people to move to other apps, such as Meta’s threads. Initially, it showed promise with it reaching 100 million users in just five days. However, this was short-lived, with it losing 80% of its active users. For now, X reigns as the most popular contender, despite its increase in the aforementioned hate speech. It has now created a new avenue for right-wing supporters to post without fear of the previous censorship Twitter had.
The USA 2024 election and a new role in government
Elon Musk has had a huge role in the election of Donald Trump. Following the assassination attempt of Trump on September 17th, 2024, and his first public endorsement of Trump, Musk pledged to donate 45 million dollars a month to the pro-Trump super PAC (Political Action Committee), titled the America PAC. Notably, he set up a lottery in swing states that gave away 1 million dollars a day to a voter who was registered in that state. This effectively targeted Trump supporters who were not yet registered to vote. Alongside that, he also used his platform X, and his over 200 million followers to promote Trump and spread right-wing sentiment. While it is hard to say whether or not Musk helped push the tides in favour of a Trump win, he is now an important political figure in Trump’s government. Musk is now the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), whose mission is to ‘reduce national debt’ and ‘save taxpayers’ money’. In achieving this goal, the department has managed to end Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) contracts and make buyout offers to over two million government employees. Overall, it has claimed to have saved over 55 billion dollars. While the longevity of DOGE is unclear, Musk certainly has a place alongside Trump, with him standing beside Trump at Oval Office addresses.
Influence further abroad
American politics is not the only avenue that Musk is interested in changing. Musk has supported right-wing candidates in eighteen countries across the world. Through X, he has taken to posting in support of far-right politicians in Europe. This has involved endorsing far-right parties such as the German Alternative for Germany or the British Reform Party. This has resulted in speculation that Musk may financially assist European far-right leaders, as Nigel Farage claims that they ‘discussed money’ in their meeting in December 2023. On January 18th, 2024, he posted ‘From MAGA to MEGE: Make Europe Great Again’. For now, his endorsement has consisted of just vocal support, if he decides to support these campaigns financially, it could very well help turn the tide of European politics - just like it did in the USA.
The future
It is safe to say that as long as Trump holds office, Musk will be able to continue using his extraordinary wealth to further influence and support right-wing politics in America. However, as he is able to use his wealth to support politicians further abroad, this poses a worrying question about the meddling of billionaires in the political lives of ordinary people.
Sources: The Guardian, Lemonde, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, The New York Times, Elon Musk on ‘X’, The Times of India, National High School Journal of Science, The BBC, Counterhate, Variety, The drum, The White House Task Force, Vox, Wired, NDTV, CNN, NBC News, The Washington Post, Alternative for Germany, Reform UK,
Written by Elizabeth Gillen
Edited by Roos Hoogesteger & Karla Kohlhaas
Comentarios