Elon Musk’s Worrying Involvement in the 2024 Election 

Elections & Politics #137 | By: Arvind Salem | November 3, 2024

Featured Photo: npr.org

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Ahead of the 2024 election, Elon Musk has emerged as one of Trump’s key allies, endorsing Trump and repeatedly praising him, with Trump returning in kind. Politically, Musk occupies a unique niche. He is simultaneously one of the richest men on earth, a media mogul, and a lightning rod of controversy: a profile that mirrors President Trump himself. Given their similarities, it is unsurprising that Trump and Musk should find themselves as natural allies; however, the degree of involvement that Musk is displaying in the 2024 election goes beyond the typical businessman endorsement.

Musk didn’t always favor President Trump. Prior to his endorsement of him this election cycle, he supported Ron Desantis in the primary, criticized Trump’s reaction to the 2020 election, and didn’t think he would make a good president after the 2016 election cycle. However, behind-the-scenes ideological shifts, his anti-Biden viewpoints, and the attempted assaination attempt on President Trump in Butler, convinced Elon to endorse Trump, and both parties seemed to have largely abandoned their former animosity towards each other.

Musk is hardly the first businessman to make a presidential endorsement or get involved in political causes. However, he is the first who has gotten involved in the actual operation of a campaign. Traditionally, billionaires relegate their involvement to an endorsement and a check, but Musk’s current conduct is more in the realm of a political operative than an endorsing businessman. In contrast to fellow business mogul Jeff Bezos, who stopped the Washington Post from endorsing a candidate, Musk has not been shy of using his media control to help President Trump’s election chances, frequently posting supportive messages on his X account with more than 200 million followers, while his position as owner means that he will always have that platform no matter what he says. However, this is still not the extent of his involvement. He has founded America PAC, an organization that the Trump campaign is relying on for grassroots outreach to voters in key swing states, encouraging up to 1 million voters to support President Trump and has already spent over 80 million dollars. Trying to build up this political operation in such a short time is unprecedented, and several Republican operatives expressed concerns that the data from America PAC and its subcontracted firms are less than reliable.

Analysis:

Of course, Elon Musk isn’t expending all of this effort for no reward: President Trump has made it clear that Elon will get a government position at the very least. President Trump has said that he would appoint Elon as the Secretary of Cost-Cutting, although the exact rank of that position is yet to be determined (appointing Elon to cabinet would be complicated given his extensive business holdings and commitments). Trump and Elon are also aligned on the goal of going to Mars as soon as possible, with Trump significantly prioritizing U.S. space superiority, through the creation of the Space Force in his first term and Musk focusing on getting to Mars through Space X.

However, appointing political supporters to government positions isn’t unprecedented, and especially given these obvious areas of political alignment, entertaining these conversations isn’t crazy. If the goal is cost-cutting, appointing one of the most successful business leaders in America is hardly an illogical choice. The problem with this Trump-Musk relationship is that both of Elon’s companies (SpaceX and Tesla) are supported by the government, especially through government contracts, which the President has discretion over. An analysis by the New York Times found that SpaceX and Tesla have received over $15 billion in government contracts over the last decade, which is many multiples of what Elon is contributing to President Trump’s election efforts. Additionally, Tesla’s electric cars have benefitted from policies designed to incentivize electric cars to reduce carbon emissions, with Tesla receiving $9 billion in federal subsidies since 2018. Given the interaction Elon Musk has not only with the government as client, but also agencies under executive control such as the National Labor Relations Board and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which have both investigated Musk’s companies, favor with President Trump would be extremely lucrative for him; especially if he receives a position where he is in charge of evaluating the very regulators/ regulations that are currently causing him trouble.

Engagement Resources: 

• Harris for President Readers who want to stop this alliance from gaining power may wish to support the Harris campaign through this website. 

• The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School is an organization that promotes reforms to American democracy. Readers worried about the health of democracy in light of these developments may wish to visit this website for more information. 

• ActBlue allows people to donate to a host of Democratic organizations, candidates, and causes. Readers are likely to find organizations that are opposed to President Trump on this website and can support races at all levels across the country. 

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