Elon Musk criticizes Biden for X more before the 2024 elections

Last month, Elon Musk posted on x that President Biden “obviously barely knows what's going on.”

“He is simply a tragic front for a far-left political machine,” Musk wrote. It was the 29th time this year that he posted about the president on x, formerly known as twitter, which Musk bought in 2022.

Musk has steadily increased his criticism of Biden as the campaign season heats up ahead of November's presidential election. Musk has posted about Biden on x at least seven times a month since January, attacking the president for everything from his age to his immigration and health policies. Before that, he posted about Biden twice in December and no posts in November, according to a New York Times analysis. In total, Musk had posted nearly 40 times about Biden this year, compared to about 30 times all of last year.

In contrast, Musk had posted more than 20 times on x this year about former President Donald J. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. In those posts, Musk defended Trump, arguing that he is a victim of media and prosecutorial bias in the criminal cases facing the former president..

Musk's posts about this year's presidential race stand out because he is signaling his willingness to tip the political scale as the owner of an influential social media platform, something no other leader of a social media company has done. And Musk wields enormous influence over political discourse on x, where he posts regularly to his 184 million followers.

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Meta, has avoided endorsing candidates and rarely posts political content on facebook or instagram. Satya Nadella, the head of Microsoft, and Sundar Pichai, the head of Google, have also not posted political comments on their companies' social media platforms, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Bhaskar Chakravorti, dean of global business at Tufts University's Fletcher School, said Musk's outspokenness about his political views could have consequences.

“He has owners and the largest fan base, and is a much larger-than-life character with almost godlike status” on one of the largest platforms for political debate, Chakravorti said. “If she really went out and supported a candidate and put her full weight against her, she could have an impact.”

The White House, the Biden campaign, Musk and x did not respond to requests for comment.

By bringing an ideological bent to said Sarah Kreps, teacher. and director of the tech Policy Institute at Cornell University.

Murdoch “has a particular ideological valence and most people know what it is, and that permeates through his different media,” he said. “People can opt in or out,” similar to x. Some users, put off by Musk's ideological bent, have migrated to competing social media platforms, he said.

Still, Musk is unlikely to influence the November vote, social media experts said. Many of his followers already agree with his political stance, they said, and the platform has shifted to the right since its acquisition.

In recent years, Musk has been more publicly supportive of right-wing candidates and views. As recently as 2022, he described himself as a centrist and a reluctant Democrat. He said he hesitantly voted for Biden in 2020. Political donation records show Musk has made no national campaign contributions since 2020, when he donated to Republican and Democratic Senate candidates.

But in June 2022, Musk said he had voted for a Republican candidate for the first time in a special election for Texas' 34th congressional district. In the national midterm elections in November of that year, twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1589639376186724354″ title=”” rel=”noopener noreferrer” target=”_blank”>urged voters vote Republican in congressional elections since a Democrat was in the White House.

That evolution continued last May when Musk hosted a buggy audio broadcast on x to announce and endorse Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the Republican presidential nomination. Musk has made no other endorsement.

Musk has also repeatedly used x to openly support right-wing politicians around the world, including Javier Milei, the president of Argentina; Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil; and Narendra Modi of India. He has then tried to use that goodwill to lobby for advantages in those countries for his other companies, including SpaceX, a rocket company, and Tesla, which makes electric cars.

Musk has courted Trump, who was kicked out of x when it was still known as twitter, after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. After purchasing twitter in 2022, Musk acted quickly to restore Trump's account, although the former president has only posted once on the platform since then.

Although Musk has not endorsed Trump, he has had several conversations with the former president. In March, Musk and Republican donors met with Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, as the former president sought election donations.

Next, Mr. Musk twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1765397025967710542″ title=”” rel=”noopener noreferrer” target=”_blank”>aware in x that “he would not donate money to any of the candidates for president of the United States.”

Musk has been sympathetic to Trump in his posts. “The more unfair the attacks on Trump seem to the public, the higher he will rise in the polls,” Musk wrote last week.

Musk has been criticizing Biden for a long time. In 2021, the billionaire sharply criticized Biden for his decisions on promoting and subsidizing electric vehicles, most of which favored unionized American automakers. Tesla, where Musk is CEO, has resisted efforts to unionize its manufacturing.

“My preference for the 2024 presidency is someone sensible and centrist,” Musk posted in November 2022, weeks after purchasing twitter, and just as he brought Trump back to the platform. He added that he had been hopeful about the Biden administration, but that so far he was “disappointed.”

In January, Musk stepped up his criticism of Biden. That month he posted seven times about the president, mostly regarding immigration policies, just as the Biden administration sued Texas over a law that allowed local law enforcement to arrest immigrants.

“I don't see myself voting for Biden,” Musk said, accusing the president of “facilitating illegal immigration.”

In February, Musk said Biden supported loose immigration restrictions because they would give him and the Democratic Party an advantage in the November elections.

“Biden's strategy is very simple: 1. Bring as many illegals into the country as possible. 2. Legalize them to create a permanent majority: a one-party state,” Musk wrote. As the number of people crossing into the United States has increased reached record levelsBiden called for a tougher crackdown on immigration and accused Republicans of hindering his efforts.

Musk has since stepped up his comments about Biden, posting 12 times in March and complaining that the media is a “Biden cheer squad.”

Last month, at a dinner in Los Angeles, Musk along with other billionaires, including Murdoch and venture capitalist Peter Thiel, discussed how to oppose Biden's reelection, according to a person familiar with the event. who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive topics. The dinner was previously reported by Disk.

During twitter.com/donlemon/status/1769692006551593144?t=607″ title=”” rel=”noopener noreferrer” target=”_blank”>an interview In March, with former CNN anchor Don Lemon, Musk said he would continue to express his opinion but did not want to “put his thumb on the scale that is monetary significant” and that could endorse a candidate for ” the final stretch.”

“I'm moving away from Biden,” he said, laughing.