Why has Elon Musk, whose Twitter/X is reportedly bleeding advert income, gone all in on supporting misinformation maven Donald Trump? Why is he bouncing round levels carrying a number of shades of MAGA hat? Why take a look at election regulation now, so near November 5, with a doubtful $1 million lottery for registered voters in swing states who’ve signed Musk’s equally doubtful petition?
These questions are being raised on the marketing campaign path, after VP candidate Tim Walz joked in a speech Tuesday that Musk was successfully Trump’s VP choose. In a made-for-memes second, Walz questioned why Musk had began “dancing like a dipshit” on the former president’s rallies.
The reply might not be that Musk has simply turn into a rabid red-pilled true believer. The proprietor’s X feed has lengthy been stuffed with far-right fibs that do not get Neighborhood Notes, and but even now he appears reluctant to go down the deepest MAGA rabbit holes — for instance, declining to obtain a e book of conspiracy theories on the 2020 election at his first solo Pennsylvania occasion this week.
Neither is this about Musk’s tax invoice. You may suppose that might be the principle cause for the world’s richest man to vault a candidate like Trump, who guarantees to chop his efficient tax fee, to the top of the federal authorities. However based mostly on ProPublica’s IRS investigations, Musk probably pays little to no federal revenue tax already. Trump would attempt to decrease the tax fee on gross sales of inventory, one thing Musk does so much — nevertheless it’s Congress that finally decides whether or not to chop taxes, not the president.
No, it appears more and more like Musk’s major concern is evading penalties from the feds, based on an exhaustive New York Occasions report.
4 of Musk’s corporations face a complete of “at the very least 20” federal probes. The Departments of Justice, Labor and Transportation are trying into authorized violations and discrimination lawsuits at Tesla, SpaceX and Neuralink. And X? The SEC and the FTC are throughout it for alleged violations round Musk’s $44 billion buy. Simply this month, Musk was a no-show at a court-ordered SEC interview.
Mashable Mild Velocity
Musk has a historical past of dragging the SEC and different regulators by lengthy courtroom battles, then paying fines that pale compared to his wealth. However now, with so many fronts to struggle on, 2025 would be the yr that the billionaire’s disdain lastly catches up with him given the quantity of investigations detailed within the New York Occasions report.
On high of his federal battles, Musk is dealing with a dozen non-public lawsuits from Tesla house owners’ households, three of that are slated to go to trial in 2025. The lawsuits allege that Musk made Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) capabilities appear extra superior than they have been, leading to a number of deaths and accidents. The Nationwide Freeway Security Visitors Administration and the DOJ are trying into the identical factor.
On the similar time, Musk at present holds an unimaginable quantity of sway inside the federal authorities – as certainly one of its largest contractors. The Occasions dug up practically $16 billion in contracts for his corporations during the last decade, the overwhelming majority with the Pentagon and NASA. And Musk’s reliance on authorities cash is rising: final yr alone, his corporations received $3 billion from a complete of 17 federal businesses.
That is 3 billion causes yearly to stymie any investigations that might carry Musk’s home of contracts crashing down.
And here is what Trump has provided Musk: his personal “authorities effectivity fee” that might suggest cuts to federal businesses. Crucially, it might additionally recommend modifications to laws. Trump and his Challenge 2025 supporters have vowed a sweeping purge of federal authorities workers. In a second Trump administration, Musk may very well be probably the most highly effective voices on the desk deciding the route of that purge.
There it’s: Not a conspiracy concept, however an out-in-the-open provide to let Musk torment his investigators. Musk could costume it up as “D.O.G.E.,” referencing certainly one of his favourite memes, however here is how the Occasions report places it: The division “would primarily give the world’s richest man and a significant authorities contractor the ability to manage the regulators who maintain sway over his corporations, amounting to a probably huge battle of curiosity.”
Given the eye-popping sum of money concerned, “probably huge battle of curiosity” may very well be an understatement. In any case, rising Musk’s $3 billion-a-year authorities enterprise — and safeguarding his companies from investigations which will tank the inventory — is value bouncing round swing states waving big checks in any variety of MAGA hats.