Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced this week that he will be crossing the aisle to vote for Republicans for possibly the first time in the upcoming elections—as he can “no longer support” Democrats.
On Twitter Wednesday afternoon, Musk said that he had previously voted for Democrats “because they were (mostly) the kindness party,” but now “they have become the party of division & hate.”
“Now, watch their dirty tricks campaign against me unfold,” the billionaire added.
In the past I voted Democrat, because they were (mostly) the kindness party.
But they have become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican.
Now, watch their dirty tricks campaign against me unfold … 🍿
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 18, 2022
Musk announced last month that he wanted to buy out Twitter and help it return to its politically neutral roots. “Which effectively means upsetting the far right and the far left equally,” the business magnate said.
Twitter’s board last month agreed to sell the company to Musk for $44 billion, but the SpaceX CEO has since put the deal is on hold while he studies the number of spam and bot accounts on the platform.
“Political attacks on me will escalate dramatically in coming months,” he predicted in a another tweet, Wednesday. “The dirty tricks attacks will be next-level,” he added.
Left-wing physician and Yale professor Howard Forman responded that Musk should expect flack from Democrats because he is being “explicitly political.”
“When you are explicitly political, you should expect people to treat you as such. Which part of that is confusing to you?” he tweeted.
Musk replied: “I’m not surprised at all. That was to inoculate the public. As a prominent vaccine advocate, you should understand that.” He added: “Yale is the epicenter of the woke mind virus attempting to destroy civilization.”
I’m not surprised at all. That was to inoculate the public. As a prominent vaccine advocate, you should understand that.
Yale is the epicenter of the woke mind virus attempting to destroy civilization.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 18, 2022
In a subsequent tweet, Forman compared Republicans to swine: “This is the man who wonders why political attacks are increasing against him. Roll around with pigs, don’t be surprised at getting muddy.”
Musk first announced that he would be voting for GOP candidates for in the next election cycle on Monday during an episode of the All-In Podcast at a Miami tech conference, Fox Business reported.
“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 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 continued. “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.”
The CEO stressed that he considers himself to be a “moderate,” not “right wing.”
“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 said.