© Reuters. U.S. Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks during the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., October 28, 2023. REUTERS/Steve Marcus
By Alexandra Ulmer
LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – Longshot U.S. Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy confirmed to Reuters on Saturday that Tesla (NASDAQ:) Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk attended a fundraiser for him in northern California.
“He came late at night and we had a conversation,” Ramaswamy said in an interview at the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) weekend donor meeting in Las Vegas.
Puck, a digital media group, reported this month that Musk had recently attended a Silicon Valley fundraiser hosted by prolific SPAC investor Chamath Palihapitiya.
When asked if Musk might donate to him, Ramaswamy said, “My only conversations with Elon have been about… the cultural direction of the country.”
“He and I are increasingly alone in this world for being free speech absolutists and I think that’s different from a lot of people in both parties. I think that’s something he and I agree on,” she said. Ramaswamy.
Reuters could not immediately request a comment from Musk. An email sent to an address linked to Palihapitiya was not immediately responded to.
Florida Governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has also been seen courting Musk, who according to Forbes is the richest man in the world with an estimated wealth of $222 billion.
Musk said in June 2022 that he might endorse DeSantis for president in 2024, and DeSantis made a botched pitch for his presidential bid on Musk’s X social media site, formerly known as Twitter.
Ramaswamy has since held his own X Spaces conversation events with Musk. “Hopefully we can do more of those X Spaces,” he said Saturday.
