Elon Musk has gone from being a technology entrepreneur who has largely avoided politics to becoming what strategists call a “megaphone” for spreading right-wing views as former President Trump's online surrogate in the White House race.
The tech mogul began his political career several years ago, but political experts say his partisan rhetoric has increased significantly in recent months.
His Republican politics and support for Trump can now be seen almost daily on his social media platform X, which was known as Twitter until it was acquired in 2022.
Political strategists on both sides have argued that Musk's increased political activity, coupled with his wealth and online visibility, could be an asset to Trump, making it the first assassination attempt on a former president. Musk endorsed it in July.
“He's probably doing more to highlight the border issue than the entire corporate media conglomerate, simply because he has more responsibility,” said one Republican strategist. spoke.
The strategist compared Mr. Musk's political career to Mr. Trump's, calling the CEOs of Tesla and Space He was a quirky character who was very popular.''
“Donald Trump was very popular before he got involved in politics, and then half of the country hates him,” the strategist said.
Wall Street Journal analysis Based on Musk's posts on X this year, it was found that in 2024 there would be approximately 230 times as many conversations containing political terms per month compared to 2019. Washington Post analysisMr. s said that nearly 20 percent of his posts this year were political.
Political strategist Basil Smikle told The Hill: “I would argue that everything Mr. Musk said was co-signed or instigated by, you guessed it, Donald Trump.” .
Mr. Musk's recent posts on A wide range of comments.
Early this month, Mr Musk claimed One comment that said, “America will descend into tyranny” if Trump is not elected, has been viewed 83 million times. In another post after President Trump's second assassination attempt, Mr Musk wrote“We need to stop the incitement of hatred and violence against President Trump by the media and Democratic leaders.”
Mr. Musk's posts and actions are in stark contrast to what he was doing nearly a decade ago. he told Vanity Fair in 2015. Although he said he would “stay out of politics as much as possible,” there were times when he needed to be involved “to a certain extent” in business. In the same interview, Musk said he hoped Trump was not chosen as the Republican presidential nominee in 2016, saying, “That's not good.”
His increased political involvement has drawn scrutiny from those on the left, some of whom say his sharing of misinformation and conspiracy theories could negatively impact the Democratic Party's prospects in November. Some people claim that.
Democratic strategist Kaivan Shroff said: “In an already tough situation, it's completely adversely affected the size of the information ecosystem, from traditional media to social media, and it's working against Democrats. I think so,” he said.
Musk, who is X's most followed user with about 199 million followers, earlier this month spoke out about rumors of “explosives” found in a car near a Trump rally, which have since been deleted. He reposted the tweet to X with the word “amazing” and drew criticism. The post now includes a community note clarifying that New York authorities deny the report, but it still appears on Musk's feed.
Musk came under fire for calling Harris a “joke” and writing, “Nobody even tried to assassinate Harris” in another post after Trump's second assassination attempt. . He later deleted the tweet after receiving backlash.
“Elon Musk is blatantly allowing misinformation to flow through his platform, and that's different. That's not good for democracy,” said Democratic strategist Rodel Molyneaux.
Strategists suggested that Mr. Musk is in a complicated position both as the owner of a social media platform and as an ordinary person who now takes partisan positions.
Since purchasing X in 2022, the tech mogul has taken a new approach to the platform's content policies and reduced some moderation features. The lack of moderation caused various advertisers to flee the site and led to legal investigations into the company's practices.
The platform's algorithms have since been accused of favoring Musk's posts, raising concerns from some strategists about his influence on voters.
“Voters may experience different kinds of influences on their elections [Musk’s] In part, it means they might see his tweets, but what they're not sure about is how much his leadership at If not, are you seeing something different than what you would have seen? ” Smile said.
Smickle said this is “an advantage for Mr. Trump” because it “can make it seem to viewers and consumers that it's more natural than it actually is.”
Another Trump supporter agreed, saying it would be “very helpful” for Musk to simply use the He said there is.
Smikle went so far as to say that since Musk took office, he has seen “an increase in anti-democratic content” on his feed.
“I've seen far more anti-Harris tweets from people of color, especially African Americans, than I've ever seen that kind of activity against Democrats or Biden,” he said, later adding. Help is obtained, but Kamala is injured. ”
Todd Belt, director of the political management program at George Washington University's School of Political Management, argued that X's algorithm puts Musk “front and center,” but that doesn't influence voters. He expressed doubts about the possibility that it would have any concrete effects.
“You don't know if it's going to have a huge impact because it gets lost in the noise of the campaign, right?” Belt told The Hill. “It stimulates and energizes the fundamentals. But I don't think it will persuade people,” he continued.
Both X and the Trump campaign immediately responded to requests for comment from The Hill.
Musk resumed posting on the platform in July as he aligned himself with Trump. Trump's account was reinstated in 2023 after Musk's former management banned him following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. Mr. Musk reinstated Mr. Trump's account last year amid a raft of other content moderation changes, amid praise from prominent right-wing figures and growing concern from online misinformation groups.
X owner's political influence extends to the financial realm as well. Musk supports the Save America PAC, a political group that has spent tens of millions of dollars on get-out-the-vote efforts that the Trump campaign relies on to draw out less likely voters in battleground states.
President Trump even suggested he would put Musk in his cabinet before pulling out, saying he would probably be too busy. The former president then said this month that he would create a “Government Efficiency Commission” and name Musk to lead it if he is re-elected in November.
Musk, who has long advocated smaller government, discussed the concept during a conversation on X Spaces last month, where such a panel would consider the national debt and how Congress could reassess spending. suggested that it was possible.
What exactly the committee will do remains unclear, and some Democratic lawmakers question whether it will be a serious effort.
Brett Samuels contributed reporting.
