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Elon Musk has made it clear he does n’t wish Joe Biden . But since Musk formally endorsed and is reportedly financiallybackingDonald Trump in this class ’s presidential campaign , Biden is returning the favor . The president is now direct campaigning on Musk — and other high - profile and wealthy Silicon Valley VCs — supporting Trump ’s bid .
“ I ’m unbalanced , ” Bidenwrote onMusk ’s societal culture medium site X on Wednesday after testingpositivefor COVID , before divulge a bait - and - switch in the next post : “ of Elon Musk and his rich pal try out to buy this election . ”
Hours earlier , Biden ’s campaignsent outa fundraising textual matter saying that “ the rich person in the mankind is now on Team MAGA ” and charge Musk of “ using his luck to seek to control our majority rule . ”
Biden centering Musk in his campaign is a notable escalation , regard he spent most of his presidentship seemingly pretending the billionaire did n’t subsist — like when he famously held an “ EV Summit ” in 2021 where Tesla was n’t invite ; or when hesaidthat Detroit — not Tesla — was “ guide the world in galvanizing vehicles . ”
campaign against Musk ’s involvement is a gamble given the billionaire ’s tilt over Silicon Valley and the tech manufacture , in ecumenical . Aswath of Silicon Valley ’s richestare backing the super PAC Musk is reportedly contributing to , including Sequoia Capital pardner Shaun Maguire and Doug Leone . Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitzannounced they will financially sustain Trump ’s campaignlargely due to the presidential candidate ’s support for crypto , stance on AI as well as Biden ’s proposal to tax unrealized cap increase . Musk confidant David Sacks has been leading the tutelage to mug up up even more keep for Trump , not just on X but also in the real domain , as hespoke onstage this weekat the Republican National Convention .
Of course , with Biden ’s campaignunder threat , it ’s potential he may not see much downside to lay a spotlight on Musk ’s involvement . After all , Musk , Sacks and other superpower players like Peter Thiel werealready invigorate enoughto push Trump to pick JD Vance as his frailty presidential campaigner before Biden made the Tesla CEO a focus of his campaigning . And the A-one PAC many of these people are piling money into was organize in June .
Whether Biden cold-shoulder Musk because of his anti - union stance , or his embrace of far - right policies , almost does n’t count . Being ignored clearly trouble Musk — hebringsitupalot .
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Musk interact with the Trump establishment in a few path , including service on his economical consultatory council , but he had never in a flash tolerate him as a nominee .
Meanwhile , Musk has benefited materially from and during Biden ’s presidency . The Inflation Reduction Act set Tesla ( and its stamp battery cooperator Panasonic ) upto $ 41 billionin credits by 2032 . Tesla hit its mellow valuation ever in 2021 amid the broader wave of EV optimism ( and after Hertz promised alarge bulk purchaseof Musk ’s automobile ) . SpaceX and its satellite business Starlink has been a repeat winner of defense and other government contracts . And he did in the end end up meeting with Biden at the White House inSeptember 2023 .
But his companies are also confront multiple Union investigations , some of which jump during Biden ’s presidency . He ’s clear more ideologically aligned with Trump , and there are reasons to think his companies would preserve to benefit fromanother Trump presidency .
Biden embrace anti - Musk grandiloquence as a result is already help him financially : On Thursday good afternoon , Biden campaign spokesperson Mia Ehrenbergwroteon X that the mail calling out “ Musk and his rich chum ” was “ the second proficient raising social post ” for the campaign in more than a class .
