News/Commentary

Musk: ‘This election, I would vote Republican,’ after years of voting for Dems

May 18, 2022 | | Print Article

Billionaire investor Elon Musk, whose work at Tesla has been instrumental in combatting climate change, is at least temporarily, if not permanently, jettisoning the Democrat Party in favor of Republicans after a lifetime of voting for the left.

Musk announced his new party affiliation while speaking via Zoom at this year’s All-In tech summit on Monday. He made the announcement while specifically detailing his concerns about Twitter, the far-left social media platform that he’s in the process of purchasing.

“The reality is that Twitter at this point, you know, has a very far-left bias. I would classify myself as a moderate and, you know, neither Republican nor Democrat. In fact, I have voted overwhelmingly for Democrats historically. Overwhelmingly. Like, I’m not sure, I might never have voted for a Republican, just to be clear. Right now, this election, I would,” he said.

While he didn’t specify the meaning of “this election,” it’s presumed he meant the upcoming November midterms. Whether or not he’ll continue voting for Republicans in future elections remains unclear.

You may hear Musk’s full remarks at this year’s All-In tech summit below:

Continuing his remarks about Twitter, he stressed that his purchase of the social media network isn’t some “right-wing takeover” but rather a moderate takeover by people essentially exasperated by the left’s continued radicalism.

“The point I’m trying to make is that this is not some sort of right-wing takeover, as some people in life may fear, but rather a moderate wing takeover and an attempt to ensure that people of all political beliefs feel welcome on a digital town square, that they can express their beliefs without fear of being banned or shadow-banned, and that we obviously need to get rid of the bots and scams and people that are operating huge bot armies,” he explained.

The modern Democrat Party has repeatedly demonstrated that it’s staunchly against free speech and expression.

Just this week, after the horrific mass shooting in Buffalo, New York by a white supremacist obsessed with the white supremacist and antisemitic great replacement theory, Democrats began calling for social media companies like Twitter to censor any and all ideas related to the theory:

The problem is that Democrats have conflated the great replacement theory with legitimate discussions about demographic changes and their link to voting habits. To the Democrat Party, all such discussions must be censored.

Shant Mesrobian, a cultural and political commentator who’s frequently retweeted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, explains in the tweet below how this disingenuous strategy allows them to “tar their political opponents as extremists who spread racist conspiracy theories and disinformation.”

Musk is keenly aware of this strategy because Democrats have employed it against him as well, particularly amid his purchase of Twitter.  The irony is rich, critics say, given that “Musk has done more concrete things to combat global warming than anyone,” as argued seven years ago in an opinion piece for The Economic Times.

Climate change is a major Democrat Party issue, right? So Democrats should support Musk and his work, right? Yet they don’t, as noted by one of Musk’s interviewers, who pointed out that despite Musk’s climate change work and longtime advocacy for Democrats, the party treats him like trash.

“You’ve been a lifelong Democrat, you’ve donated to Obama, probably never voted Republican. And yet — and the same is true for Joe Rogan. Joe Rogan is, you know, a Bernie Sanders supporter, and the Democrat Party has been openly hostile to Joe Rogan,” the interviewer said.

“And [similarly], Biden can’t even say the word Tesla or invite you to the White House when they do an [electric vehicle] summit. I’m curious, just on a very personal basis, what does it feel like to have that experience where the party you supported won’t even say the name of your company or invite you when they should be celebrating the work you’re doing?”

Listen to Musk’s response below:

“Yeah, I mean, it definitely feels like this is not right, like this is — the issue here is that the Democrat Party is overly, overly controlled by the unions and by the trial lawyers, particularly the class-action lawyers. And generally, if you see something that is not in the interests of the people, on the Democrat side it’s going to come because of the unions, which is just another form of monopoly, and the trial lawyers,” he said.

To be fair, he admitted that a similar dynamic exists on the right, except that with them, “where there is something not ideal happening, it’s because of corporate evil and religious zealotry.”

However, Musk’s decision to vote Republican makes it clear that the “corporate evil and religious zealotry” on the right isn’t nearly as prominent as the radicalism on the left …

Vivek Saxena
Latest posts by Vivek Saxena (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles