Maybe his politics are complicated. Did y’all consider that? That a white South African industrialist who dabbles in eugenics, treats employees like shit, and thinks catturd2 is funny might be a complex enigma?
And he's the multibillionaire that actually wants to put microchips into people's heads unlike Bill Gates who's checks notes actually trying to cure malaria? (He's probably still not a saint though, every billionaire is part of the problem.)
Bill Gates has strong enough ties to Epstein that his wife divorced him and left their charitable foundation they started together. So idk man, he's not so great either
Did you consider that you might not have the deep insight of a guy in a k-hole who spent 44 billion dollars to run a successful social media company into the ground?
"It's complicated". Nah, not really. An egomaniac, rich asshole took refuge in the right wing safe space because they kiss his ass and call him a genius. But they still won't buy his electric cars.
Send this fucker to Orania along with all his supporters and enablers and burn the goddamn whole town to the ground. The world and South Africans would cheer.
"The Saudis could have cashed out, like most everyone else. That would have been the financially sound thing to do. Instead, they allied with Musk ... There's a clear political motivation to their decision, and CFIUS should get to the bottom of it."
A source familiar with the situation adds that Murphy's concern is exacerbated by the large amount of debt that Musk/Twitter now must service, and what demands that may enable Saudi to make. Particularly given that Musk, at least for the moment, is Twitter's sole director.
Murphy on Monday asked the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) to investigate "potential national security concerns" arising from Saudi Arabia and Qatar's involvement in Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter.
Saudi Arabia and members of its extended royal family are regular investors in U.S. tech companies, both directly and via private equity and venture capital funds. But they've been largely ignored by CFIUS, which investigated just six Saudi-involved deals between 2019 and 2021.
CFIUS is empowered to recommend to the President that mergers be blocked on national security grounds, including for transactions that have already closed. Many of its recent recommendations to that effect have involved China.
Elon Musk returned to federal court Monday in San Francisco, testifying that he believed he had locked up financial backing to take Tesla private during 2018 meetings with representatives from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund
I agree and I drive a Tesla, unfortunately it's paid off so for the time being it just makes sense to keep driving it because it costs me basically nothing.
He used to be different politically, because that was cool. Now he has enough money that people will tell him he’s cool no matter what his politics are, so he now supports the causes that benefit him. I don’t think he’s ever going back.
Could say the same about any American made truck, except they've had the association with stupid rednecks for decades so it's just not talked about as much.
Please dont associate us stupid rednecks with those wannabe rich fucks with the brand new rams. We much more prefer Toyota trucks or old Fords from the 90s backwards. Im personally also partial to Kei trucks and old Jeep trucks personally.
Because you seem to think, and my apologies if im mistaken, that people think about politics as much as your question suggests. Most people just dont really dont have the capacity to also factor in other peoples politics when making large practical purchases.
A minority of people vote in the us. I believe its around 39%
And slightly more than half of those people are deciding who the president of the US is.
You might be surprised to learn that most of the time, a car isnt a political statement or adorsement. It could be, and can be, sometimes it even is.
If you want an EV because you care about the environment you still want a good vehicle. Teslas are seen as the best EVs that most people have access to and are comfortable with... Inspite of why they might not be.
Maybe its a surprise to hear that practical benefits of EV ownership, whether it's due to not having to pay for gas, they want to support fighting climate change, or just enjoy cool new tech are likely why someone owns a tesla, not because they are fans of elon
How is owning a tesla car not just like walking around wearing one of those stupid red hats?
Because more than 90% of owners didnt buy their car to be political statements, but 90% of owners of those stupid red hats did buy them and wear them for the sole purpose of being political statementa
I'm just stating the reality of things. At one point, a Tesla was maybe a signifier for the left, or most likely neutral. Given how much Elon keeps inserting himself into the public eye, and not in a good way, the brand is now a signifier for things a lot of people despise.
I realize he didn't even start Tesla, and I realize many people bought their cars long before all this came to light. But I also remember when it was considered risque to buy "foreign". People absolutely DO think about what a car says about them when they buy a car, and people do make snap judgements about who is driving that car.
I'm just lamenting the fact that one of the most common EVs is now associated with a shithead like Elon. Which is unfortunate, because we need things like EV more than ever...
Do you understand where it leads to when there are two seperate economies? Its amazing how you dont realize we are in the "fucking around" point in american history.
Are you talking to me? I'm just noting the situation. I think people like Rush, Newt, Elon, and donnie have driven us to this point, and I don't think it's good at all. I'm quite worried about my country.
Yeah! Fuck you if you jumped onboard and invested in one of the earliest, popular, commercial EVs.
If you can't find the funds to get a different car, you're a shithead according to this guy. Switch back to petrol if you have to! This guy will hate you for continuing to own those vehicles!
TBF - Tesla was not even started by him. Unfortunately, he cannot seem to keep his disgusting politics to himself, and now the Tesla brand is as tarnished as a red hat.
Someone I know who works for Tesla gave me a Tesla shirt some time ago. I would never wear such a shirt now in public. It is a dogwhistle, just like the car itself.
Conservatives own at least 2 media companies (X, Truth Social), Trump got reinstated with Meta... Imagine doing all this for a man who raped a 12 year old
I was going to start listing other examples, like Rupert Murdoch and Sinclair broadcasting, but in reality billionaire conservatives own and operate all major legacy media outlets at this point. That includes CNN and NYT.
Elon Musk peddles the racist replacement theory among other things. It is absurd a white settler from South Africa is afraid to be replaced by the indigenous people.
Mush is so paranoid about this, that he started his own anti-woke AI. Why? Because he believes that in the future, a sentient AGI will emerge and that if that AGI is trained on "wokeness" then it will cull white people in order to fulfill "diversity quotas."
Move demonstrates Musk’s growing influence in Washington
It demonstrates the growing influence of EVERY billionaire in Washington DC ever since the courts accepted the "corporations are people / money is speech" arguments.
When that happened, the government stopped representing the needs of ordinary people and only represented the needs of billionaires and their lobbyists. It's taking a long time to play out, but it's going to end badly.
Putting this guy’s shitty politics aside for a moment, Trump and the GOP have be shitting on EVs extra hard over the past year. Tesla is hurting right now, and if Trump wins the dead heat, that company could be fucked. Moreover, he also has a bunch of government contracts keeping Space X and Starlink alive.
If Musk doesn’t pay up and kiss the ring, he could be screwed if Trump wins.
Elon doesn't care if Tesla succeeds, he's just using it as a way to launder financial gifts from other billionaires/millionaires and using poor people to help subsidize.
Eg if his friend, MBS from Saudi Arabia, has 2-5 people with trading algorithms and a few million dollars, they can inflate the stock. This makes it look appealing to regular buyers who think the stock is actually organically reaching that price. Then they invest more, increasing the price, and MBS can start to withdraw some of his money out, but Elon will still have that funding/money from the real investors. If the stock starts to deflate, they can just pump it again.
At some point, the stock will correct. Either when Elon stops convincing rich people (eg MBS) he can deliver on his promises, or when it becomes clear to the public it was a grift the whole time. I think Elon assumes it will be soon, which is why he took out so much recently (like 40 billion, right?) and risked removal from the company.
It's entirely possible Elon is worried about crimes he's committed and supports Trump explicitly for a pardon (which we know Trump is selling).
Ah, well that just flipped the switch in my head from "wow that musk guy is an egotistical asshole devoid of even the most fleeting sense of altruism," to "I actively hate this dude now."
surprising nobody. Guy who made nearly all his money in corporate buyouts and government contracts backs the anti union guy who wants to ban electric cars. It just shows you this is about class warfare.
Even a shitstain like Musk has his worth: he made me recognize that there are no exceptions to the rule that there are no ethical billionaires.
i kinda liked him many years ago; a fact that makes me pretty unhappy with myself. I really thought that his push for wide adoption of EVs might be a sign of philantropy and a sense of ethics. i'm seldom THAT far off the mark, so i have to thank him in a kinda awkward way for dropping his act.
I'll be completely honest: I was on board the hype train. I thought it was awesome that someone was investing in EV's and pushing them into the market. Hell, I was even fooled by the whole hyperloop thing...
I'm glad it's not too late to admit that I was terribly wrong about the guy.
At the same time, I don't blame those that were fooled back then, and I most definitely don't blame anyone for having bought a Tesla and keeping it even though the guy turned out to be who he is. Some years ago he honestly looked like he was trying to do a lot of good, at least for those of us that didn't look very closely.
Well Trump said he'd cut taxes for the rich if they helped him get re-elected. Honestly surprised it took Musk this long to donate to him, especially with talk of Trump making making Secretary of Transportation.
How did Musk know to donate to Trump a whole day before he decided to fully endorse him after the shooting? So strange. Maybe he always fully endorsed him and is just an attention seeking whore.