At the beginning of October, the billionaire appeared for the first time at a political meeting, jumped on stage when he joined Trump, and at the same time became a new source of memes, these derivative images that abound on his social network, X. I the process drew the attention of an interview given to conservative columnist Tucker Carlson, between jokes about the attempted assassination of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and concerns about her future in the event of Donald Trump’s defeat. “If he loses, I’m screwed,” he said bluntly.
Because Elon Musk bet everything on the ex-president, spending tens of millions of dollars on his campaign and declaring himself available for a possible government position in case of victory. For many, Elon Musk’s turn to the right doesn’t come out of nowhere: Some remember that he grew up in South Africa under apartheid and believed that this past might weigh on his vision of the world today, especially on demographic and migration issues.
“Great replacement”. The head of Tesla regularly asserts, without proof, that migrants threaten American democracy, raising the theory of the “great replacement” that was already present in South Africa during his childhood. “In the 1980s, the nightmare of white South Africans was that black people would one day rise up and massacre them,” recalled British columnist Simon Kuper in Financial Times.
But recent personal experiences have weighed on his political development, first of all the change of name and gender of his daughter, Vivian, in 2022, at the age of 18. For Elon Musk, his child was “killed” by the “awake virus” fostered by the elitist Californian school where his daughter studied, which helped harden his political discourse.
Professional interest. His support for Donald Trump is also not without professional interest, while his companies operate in specially regulated sectors and regularly come into conflict with the authorities. With Trump in the White House, Musk could potentially “be in charge of his own regulation, which gives him the ability to do absolutely whatever he wants,” emphasizes Rob Enderle, an analyst for the Enderle Group.
In this case, Mr. Musk has a real instrument of influence, thanks to disinformation, close to the ideas that Donald Trump defends. Even more, the virtual absence of moderation provides an echo chamber for lies or distortions of reality promoted by accounts close to the former president.
Petition. “Having the support of someone like (Elon) Musk, with his own social network, is not the same as having his support as a simple individual,” said Sophie Bjork-James, a professor of anthropology at Vanderbilt University. And it’s moving forward: Recently, the support committee launched by Elon Musk promised to pay $47 to anyone who gets a voter in a key state to sign a petition in favor of free speech and the use of guns, “easy money.” Mr. Musk wrote on his profile. “His influence is in his money, his endorsement committee and X. And he has no problem using it for Trump, even if it’s to tell lies that would help him,” explains Larry Sabato, a professor at the University of Virginia.
His supporters see his political involvement as the natural extension of his professional success. “Almost systematically, the innovations that Musk brought were added to things that the government wanted to do, but that made it better,” assesses for Washington examiner Professor Paul Sracic of Youngstown State University.
However, its political orientation is beginning to change the general perception of its companies, such as Tesla, “which is no longer the first choice to show your environmental commitment”, emphasizes Mark Hass, who advises many large companies. His political involvement is nevertheless something new in the American political landscape: a tech giant, very rich, with enormous media influence, with authoritarian leanings, details Mr. Hass, and who, in the event of a winning bet, could become the “king” of the world.
Alex PIGMAN
© Agence France-Presse
