In his triumphant speech in the early morning hours on Wednesday, likely President Donald Trump once again praised Elon Musk by name: “We have a new star. A star is born. Elon,” Trump said. “He’s a super genius,” he went on. “We have to protect our geniuses. We don’t have that many of them.”
Musk took a jet to Florida to spend election night with Trump and his camp at Mar-a-Lago. The two are reported to speak several times a week.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and owner the social media network he renamed X, campaigned extensively for Trump – sending out tweets, appearing on podcasts, hosting events, and funneling over $119 million into a super PAC that set out to convince voters in swing states.
On X, Musk has spent the past weeks sending out a deluge of posts to his 200 million followers arguing that a Trump presidency is the only way to preserve freedom of speech, reduce government regulation, advance the power of men, close the borders to immigrants, and improve the economy. He leans into xenophobic fearmongering, and anti-trans rhetoric. He has said several times that “this will be the last election” should Trump not win. He tweeted yesterday as polls were open that, “The cavalry has arrived. Men are voting in record numbers. They now realize everything is at stake.”
Musk has also asserted over and over that there are ongoing attempts and issues of voter fraud, critiquing the fact that many states don’t require photo identification at polls, and alleging often that undocumented people are registering or attempting to vote. There is no evidence of widespread voting by undocumented immigrants.
An investigation by the Wall Street Journal found that X, which has been changed drastically under Musk’s helm, has an algorithm that favors political content, and specifically pro-Trump posts.
Musk has also sank a lot of cash into this campaign. His America PAC began awarding $1 million daily to selected voters in swing states in the weeks leading up to Election Day. The PAC announced that each recipient would act as a spokesperson for the group and must align with its values. This scheme was challenged with a suit brought by Philadelphia District Attorney Lawrence Krasner, who called it an “illegal lottery,” that possibly violated election laws which forbid paying sums for people to register to vote. However a court this week allowed the scheme to proceed.
Musk has stated several times that he believes a Harris administration will also be harmful to his businesses.
As the results rolled in on election night Musk tweeted a photo of himself and Trump, with several American flag and fire emojis and the caption: “The future is gonna be so [hot].”
