What, exactly, is Elon Musk trying to accomplish? It’s clear what President Donald Trump wants to do. He has a vision of America that is white and conservative. So, he is working diligently (legally and illegally) to make his vision a reality.
But where does Musk fit into this picture? And, after years of relative political apathy, why did the tech billionaire choose now to become to politically engaged? There is no definitive answer, but if you read between the lines, a clear picture emerges.
Musk was born in South Africa at the height of apartheid. He has gone to great lengths to argue that he is not an Afrikaner (The white ethnicity that implemented and promoted the system of government that Nelson Mandela fought against.). But, even if he was not a part of that ethnic group, Musk certainly benefited from being white in that deeply colonized part of Africa. He was raised in a community where white privilege was rampant and anti-Blackness was embraced.
He moved to Canada to escape service in the military in 1988 and then became a U.S. citizen in 2002. Musk was not very politically engaged until recently when he endorsed Trump, started a super PAC and was then put in charge of DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency.
This leads us to the question of why. What could Musk, a man who is rich enough to fly to the moon (literally), gain from his association with Trump? If you believe it is because he has a deep and abiding love for this country, I have some oceanfront property in Kanas to sell you. Looking at what’s happened recently, there appears to be at least two things the Nazi saluting mogul is trying to accomplish.
Musk is a not a businessman, he is a business, man. He wants the government to stop looking into the companies he owns. Biden’s administration started to investigate hundreds of claims about Tesla concerning debt collection and loan problems, but the widespread firing of governmental employees made those investigations go away.
Musk associating with Trump is certainly helping his bottom line, but there is another more insidious thing he has accomplished...And it hasn’t gotten much attention.
At the beginning of this month, Trump signed an executive order that stopped aid to Musk’s home country of South Africa because of “racism against white farmers.” He then did something shocking: While actively deporting millions, Trump suggested that white South Africans should consider moving to the United States where they will be welcomed as “refugees” because they have been “persecuted” by the (mostly Black) government. The bloke who makes overpriced electric vehicles had to have a hand in that.
Either this is one hell of a coincidence or Musk is whispering in Trump’s ear convincing the president to do his bidding. Over the course of one month, Musk has gotten the government to stop looking into his company’s shady dealings while opening the door for white people from South Africans to leave the country they colonized and move to this one.
To misquote The Simpsons, everything’s coming up Musk.