By Hyunjoo Jin and Alexandra Ulmer
(Reuters) -Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla (NASDAQ:), publicly endorsed Donald Trump for the primary time in the U.S. presidential race, calling the Republican former president “robust.”
Musk, the world’s richest individual, posted the endorsement with a video of Trump with blood on his face pumping his fist after a number of photographs rang out at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. Trump was protected.
The posts cement Musk’s shift in direction of right-wing politics and hand Trump a high-profile backer in his quest to return to the White Home in the Nov. 5 election.
“I absolutely endorse President Trump and hope for his speedy restoration,” Musk posted on his social media platform X.
“The martyr lived,” he wrote in a later publish, citing a reported debate between conservative enterprise capitalist Peter Thiel and LinkedIn co-founder and Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman.
Musk later posted {a photograph} of Trump on the occasion, adopted by: “Final time America had a candidate this robust was Theodore Roosevelt.”
Musk and representatives from X didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
Musk, who has been ramping up criticism of U.S. President Joe Biden, has donated to a political group working to elect Trump, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing sources.
The South African-born businessman’s sway stands to learn Trump, since Musk has one of many largest footprints on X with 189.5 million followers, which means his posts can instantaneously unfold broadly.
Musk has mentioned he beforehand voted for Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton in addition to Biden.
Nevertheless, in the previous couple of years, Musk has espoused right-wing views, turning into a fierce critic of range initiatives, Biden’s immigration insurance policies and complaining that Democrats had given a “very chilly shoulder” to Tesla and his rocket firm SpaceX.
In March, Trump, who is predicted to be formally nominated subsequent week because the Republican Get together’s candidate for the Nov. 5 election, reportedly met with Musk and different rich donors.
In response to experiences of the assembly, Musk posted on X: “Simply to be tremendous clear, I’m not donating cash to both candidate for US President.” In Could, he additionally denied media experiences that there had been talks over a possible advisory function for him in any Trump presidency.
FROM “BULL***T ARTIST” TO “FAN OF ELON”
In July 2022, Musk mentioned Trump was “too previous to be” president of america, and Trump wanted to “sail into the sundown.” Musk additionally mentioned he was leaning in direction of supporting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for president in 2024. Trump hit again, calling Musk a “Bull***t artist”.
Then in late 2022, Twitter reversed its ban on former U.S. President Trump shortly after Musk accomplished his $44 billion buy of the controversial social media platform, which he later renamed X.
Final month, Trump mentioned he was “a fan of Elon,” including “he does an unbelievable job with Tesla.”
Musk mentioned at a current Tesla shareholder assembly that the 2 males had “some conversations.” Trump is a “big fan” of Tesla’s electrical pickup vans, Musk mentioned.
Trump has reiterated his pledge to instantly abandon the Biden administration’s “mandate” to assist the electrical automobile business.
Musk’s assist for Republicans and his antisemitic and different controversial feedback have alienated some Tesla clients, weighing on the carmaker’s status and gross sales.
Elon Musk endorses Trump in presidential race, calls him “robust” By Reuters www.investing.com 2024-07-14 07:09:12
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