Elon Musk has become Donald Trump’s ‘spiritual heir’ for his populism, his base of followers and his ability to spin ideas around his worldview, according to a Wall Street Journal columnist.
Musk and Trump are businessmen, provocative on social issues, politically incorrect, and have built a populist following “through years of savvy Twitter-turned-X use,” according to Tim Higgins, whose writing specializes in Musk and his companies.
“For many, Musk’s evolution from green energy technology expert to self-styled boss troll has made the billionaire Trump’s spiritual heir,” only now he’s “even more influential,” Higgins wrote.
Higgins writes that Musk has mastered Trump’s ability to whip up a social media storm and ignite his fan base, citing an example from earlier this week in which the tech mogul suggested corporate diversity efforts could threaten security. of air travel.
“It will take a plane crashing and killing hundreds of people to change this crazy DIE policy,” Musk wrote on his X platform on Tuesday, rearranging the abbreviation for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).
Elon Musk has become Donald Trump’s ‘spiritual heir’, according to a WSJ columnist
Musk also adopts Trump’s gigantic self-confidence and bravery, writes Tim Higgins.
During the 2020 election campaign, Trump signed an executive order against DEI initiatives, such as racial sensitivity training and the teaching of critical race theory in federal institutions, which he described respectively as “evil ideology” and “propaganda.” divisive and anti-American.”
Musk has adopted other rhetoric used by the former president, including spreading fear about the impact of mass migration to the United States.
Last week, Musk wrote on X that the government would begin forcing Americans to house immigrants in their homes after a Brooklyn school was closed for a day.
‘This is what happens when you run out of hotel rooms. “Soon cities will run out of schools to evacuate,” said the Tesla CEO.
Adding: “Then they will come for your houses.”
Musk’s post included a video showing buses of migrants arriving at school Tuesday night after officials moved students to remote learning Wednesday to provide shelter for asylum seekers currently housed in the tent. at Bennet Airfield.
There is no evidence that any local government in the country has attempted to force people to house migrants in residences or plans to do so.
Additionally, Musk has followed Trump in spreading misinformation about the 2020 election results.
The former president refused to accept the results of the 2020 elections
Musk has followed Trump in spreading misinformation about the 2020 election results.
Last May he posted an article on then-Twitter alleging that the contests were “bought by Mark Zuckerberg.”
Trump’s allies had pushed the baseless idea that donations from people like Zuckerberg to a group called the Center for Technology and Civic Life (CTCL) amounted to partisan interference in the election.
Musk also adopts Trump’s gigantic self-confidence and bravado, Higgins writes.
In response to a recent Wall Street Journal report about Musk’s drug use that raised concerns among his board members and executives, Musk responded by saying he had not failed any drug tests and highlighted the success of his businesses.
‘Whatever you’re doing, you should obviously keep doing it!’ he wrote in X.
Republican pollster Frank Luntz finds that the two men are often compared to and supported by the same group of people when he conducts focus groups.
“People’s reaction (to both men) is: ‘Well, good for him… I don’t always agree with what he says, I don’t necessarily like how he says it, but I like what he does, it’s shaking his hands. things,” Luntz told the Journal.
Higgins goes on to say that his base views Musk as the model of the “early American dream” and that because the United States previously told “the king of England over 200 years ago to essentially ‘fuck you,’” he has raided the way for Musk to do the same with ‘the CEO of Disney’.
The supporters he has built see Musk as “an immigrant who, against great odds, gambled everything over and over again,” who has come to “make it in America” after working hard and toppling the elites.