MAY 17, 2022
Elon Musk attends the 2022 Met Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2, 2022, in New York City. – Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
Elon Musk says he will be crossing the aisle to vote for Republicans in the upcoming elections.
Musk announced Monday that he would be voting for GOP candidates in the next election cycle after historically backing almost exclusively Democrats. He made the statement on an episode of the All-In Podcast at a Miami tech conference, as first noted by Business Insider.
“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,” Musk said on the show. “Now this election, I will.”
The audience reacted to the CEO’s statement vocally with laughter and applause.
“The issue here is that the Democrat party is overly controlled by the unions and by the trial lawyers – particularly the class action lawyers,” Musk explained on the show. “And generally if you see something that is not in the interest of the people on the Democrat side, it’s going to come because of unions – which is just another form of monopoly – and the trial lawyers.”
During the show, the CEO stressed that he does not consider himself “right wing,” and sees himself as a “moderate.”
“To be fair, on the Republican side – if you [ask] why is something not ideal happening, it’s because of corporate evil and religious zealotry,” he added.
According to his own comments, Musk has rarely if ever voted for the GOP, though he has often backed unconventional candidates. In 2019, Musk announced his support for outsider Andrew Yang in the Democratic presidential primary.
Musk has stayed in the headlines over the past few weeks as he continues his planned purchase of the Twitter social media platform. The tech magnate stated that he wants to see more free speech on the platform and a greater effort to balance its perceived “very far-left bias.”
Musk’s announcement will have major implications as the entrepreneur continues positioning himself against the mainstream of the Democratic Party. Musk made many enemies in the Democratic Party after stating that he will re-establish former President Donald Trump’s account on Twitter if his purchase of the platform is successful.
The news that Elon Musk would reinstate former President Trump’s Twitter account sent shock waves through Twitter, especially in leftist corners of the social media platform.
Leftists including Keith Olbermann, Dean Obeidallah and others reacted viciously to the thought that the brash 45th president could be allowed back on Twitter.
During an interview with The Financial Times on Tuesday, Elon Musk, the potential new owner of Twitter, claimed Twitter was wrong to ban Trump and that once his ownership of the company is finalized, he would reverse the ban.
