After witnessing Billionaire Elon Musk meddling with U.S. politics for the last few months by throwing money at everything to have his own way we can finally breathe a sigh of relief. The Tesla CEO has announced he will be decreasing his political donations for the foreseeable future.
Musk’s actions have been under close observation for the past few months. His shift into politics has turned many against him and it’s easy to see why. Many accused him of outright buying the presidency with his vast wealth. During the brief period in which he and Donald Trump were partners in crime we saw the president endorse Tesla and threaten to arrest people for terrorism for vandalising Musk’s precious electric vehicles.
Trump also allowed Musk access to sensitive information on U.S. citizens which has caused concern for many. It seems the billionaire being a businessman and a “special government employee” has led to a conflict of interest. So it’s understandable that people would take issue with Musk influencing politics with his money.
Elon Musk is stepping away from politics
This week the CEO made the rather surprising announcement that he was decreasing the amount of political donations he would be making. Musk was the biggest donor towards Trump’s election campaign last year giving away $277 million of his own fortune to help Trump and the Republican party. If he’s no longer bankrolling them this could be a major hit for the Trump administration.
During a video interview with Bloomberg News at the Qatar Economic Forum Musk explained, “I think, in terms of political spending, I’m going to do a lot less in the future.” When asked why he was pulling back the billionaire simply answered, “I think I’ve done enough.” The audience laughed but was he actually joking? Who Knows?
However, the timing is highly suspicious. Musk’s decision comes after his approval ratings tanked amongst the people as well as the Republicans whom he had so graciously funded. Insiders claimed that he was “done.” So is this a case of Musk peacing out of his own volition, or was he pushed out? I’m leaning towards the latter.
Did the internet bully Elon out of politics?
As previously mentioned, Musk’s shift into politics made him incredibly unpopular. Even Trump voters have expressed hatred towards him. He’s a PR liability and he demonstrated as much back in January with that infamous salute. Since then it’s only gotten worse as the internet has bullied him non-stop despite his frequent unsuccessful attempts at coming across as likeable and relatable.
Musk stepping back truly is welcome news. It seems like very few people actually wanted him having influence in the White House in the first place so what was he doing there? At last the people’s voice has managed to get through the white noise and lead to actual change. Although it’s not over yet as he didn’t rule out making more donations in the future, “If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it. I do not currently see a reason.”
