Vittoria Elliot
Donald Trump may be the next president, but the person who defined the 2024 election was never even a candidate. Centibillionaire Elon Musk all but shut down the US government via X post before Trump, behind whom Musk threw his full support, was even in office. How the political system can adapt to such a figure is unclear.
What is clear is that Musk’s particular blend of superwealth, celebrity, and influence in the world of the Silicon Valley has already made him a key player in shaping the incoming second Trump administration and that his use of X to support Trump’s bid for leadership of the free world is a key component of his power.
“I think Musk is very similar to Trump,” says João Vieira Magalhaes, assistant professor of media, politics, and democracy at the University of Groningen. “He really turned Twitter into a political tool.”
Over the course of the campaign, Musk became one of Trump’s most significant supporters. After endorsing Trump following the assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania, Musk pledged to donate $45 million a month to America PAC, a pro-Trump political action committee. By the election, America PAC had shelled out nearly $200 million in support of the Trump campaign, making Musk, its primary funder, one of Trump’s biggest financial backers. In addition to helping bankroll Trump’s bid for the presidency, Musk hit the campaign trail himself, joining Trump at a rally and crisscrossing the key swing state of Pennsylvania to host a series of town halls in support of the former president.
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