Elon Musk, much like Donald Trump, is no stranger to controversy. While the billionaire and CEO of Tesla has always been in the headlines and in media, Musk has, in recent times, been on the front pages for all the wrong reasons. The billionaire has advocated for increasingly controversial topics on his platform. Today, we will dive into his journey towards far-right views.
Also Read: Elon Musk allegedly performed a Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration celebration; Internet calls him ‘vile’
Elon Musk bought Twitter
Ever since he acquired social media platform X (then known as Twitter) in 2022, there has been a sharp increase in hate speech on the platform. Increasingly racist and xenophobic views have found support on X since Musk’s takeover. This has coincided with complaints of poor moderation practices at X.
it’s official — 1,000,000 people have joined Bluesky in just the last day!!!
welcome 🥳https://t.co/x6v5YW0WFTpic.twitter.com/ifpjZFpYsf
— bluesky (@bluesky) November 15, 2024
All these factors led to a mass exodus from X to open-source competitors like Mastodon and BlueSky. BlueSky saw a monumental increase in its userbase following Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 US Election against Kamala Harris. X is now filled with wild conspiracy theories, far-right propaganda and untruths. There’s also complaints regarding Musk’s censorship on the app, like banning the word ‘cisgender’ as a slur on X.
Bankrolling the Donald Trump election camp
Elon Musk was a vocal advocate for Donald Trump in the run up to the 2024 election. He had repeatedly offered his support for Trump as well as spoken at multiple election rallies with Trump as he donned the quintessential MAGA or Make America Great Again hat in red. He has reportedly donated over $250million to the Trump camp and his platform X was instrumental in Trump’s election victory.
Elon Musk contributed more than $250 million to 2024 campaign groups backing Donald Trump https://t.co/q831YbvAA8
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) December 6, 2024
Musk’s close ties with Trump have resulted in Elon Musk also becoming the head of DOGE, or Department of Government Efficiency, which is a non-governmental organization which would ‘advice’ the government on budget cuts. It’s also important to note that Musk’s companies like Tesla and SpaceX enjoy a flurry of government contracts worth billions of dollars.
DEI is just another word for racism. Shame on anyone who uses it. https://t.co/HM94ZZmfhU
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 3, 2024
He has called on to end DEI or Diversity Equity and Inclusion, which is affirmative action from governments and corporations aimed at uplifting historically marginalized communities and populations. ‘DEI means DIE’ he had said in one of his posts. This highlights how Musk has pandered to far right in recent times.
Support for Far-right parties and the Nazi salute
Ever since Trump’s election win, Musk has become increasingly supportive of alt-right ideologies and parties. He had publicly endorsed German far-right party AfD (Alternative for Germany) as the European nation is gearing itself up for its national elections. Musk has been called out by multiple agencies over his attempts to interfere in elections.
Once again:
FREE TOMMY ROBINSON NOW https://t.co/pVBpoKTeLc
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 5, 2025
Musk also advocated for British far-right activist Tommy Robinson’s release from prison. Robinson is a known racist and is known for his extremist views on immigration as well as his Islamophobia. However, what takes the cake is Musk’s Nazi Salute at a rally celebrating Donald Trump’s election victory.
Elon Musk claims that his Hitler salute was misunderstood, but there is no misunderstanding his endorsement of the far-right neo-Nazi AfD party in Germany. He appeared via video at their election campaign event. https://t.co/8pgIXLjfuK
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) January 25, 2025
Musk performed the act not once, but twice amid cheers from the crowd. While people have defended his actions, the general public criticized the billionaire for his salute. Musk hasn’t issued a clarification for his actions yet. However, he has since doubled-down on his endorsements as he spoke to a crowd of AfD supporters via video link.
Elon Musk causes divide among MAGA faithful.
Despite his extremist views, the billionaire has been an unequivocal supporter of US’ H1-B visa program, much to the dismay of a large section of Trump supporters like Steve Bannon. H1-B visa program is a temporary residence program which allows skilled workers from foreign countries to legally work in the US. While not its sole purpose, the program has seen a large amount of takers in the tech industry with silicon valley companies hiring software engineers in scores from countries like India and China to work on their products.
#ElonMusk vows ‘#war‘ over #H1B #visa program amid rift with some #Trump #supportershttps://t.co/9xH3bplUSn
— Economic Times (@EconomicTimes) December 29, 2024
While Donald Trump has called for ending birthright citizenship, he has sounded Musk’s calls to support H1-B visa program; something a certain section of his supporters, who want tougher restrictions on both legal and illegal migration, oppose. Musk has said he would ‘go to war’ over the program.
Read the memo: Meta announces end of its DEI programs https://t.co/0Iv7WKnV6s
— CNBC (@CNBC) January 10, 2025
As Musk expresses support for increasingly extremist views, people have sounded out concerns over his influence in US politics as well as his apparent attempts to influence politics in different countries. What next for the billionaire? No one knows, but its increasingly obvious that many of big tech leaders are following suit as they lean further towards conservatism.
Also Read: Why the H1B visa has caused a divide in American conservative politics
