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.