Elon Musk hinted his support for Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 presidential election early Wednesday.
Musk cast his vote for a Republican candidate for the first time by voting for Texas Representative-elect Mayra Flores in a special election Tuesday. Tesla Owners Silicon Valley asked Musk via Twitter if he intends to vote Republican in the next presidential election.
“Tbd,” Musk replied.
“What are you leaning towards?” Tesla Owners asked.
“DeSantis,” Musk said.
DeSantis
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 15, 2022
Musk said in May that he plans to vote Republican for likely the first time in 2022 during an appearance on the “All In” podcast.
“I might never have voted for a Republican, just to be clear,” Musk said. “Now this election, I will. This is not some right-wing take over.” (RELATED: Elon Musk: ‘The Far Left Hates Everyone, Themselves Included’)
The tech billionaire, a fierce advocate of free speech, has criticized the left and the Democratic Party after having voted for them in the past. In a May 18 tweet, he called Democrats the party of “division and hate” and said it is controlled by unions and trial lawyers.
“In the past I voted Democrat, because they were (mostly) the kindness party,” Musk said. “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.”
Liberal figures lamented Musk’s $43.4 billion deal to buy Twitter in April, advocating for increased restrictions and monitoring of misinformation and disinformation. MSNBC host Joy Reid claimed Musk misses the “old South Africa of the ’80’s” by wanting to allow supporters of former President Donald Trump back onto the platform.
Musk revealed he would allow Trump to return to Twitter if he were to appeal his ban from the platform. The social media company permanently suspended the former president in January 2021, claiming he violated their policies by inciting or justifying violence at the U.S. Capitol.
DeSantis vowed to hold Twitter board members accountable in April for imposing the “poison pill” in an attempt to prevent Musk from buying the platform. The “poison pill” also allows for shareholders to buy more stock at a cheaper price and potentially dilute Musk’s ownership stake to prevent him from purchasing the entire company.
“The state of Florida and our pension system, we have shares of Twitter. I didn’t buy it, we have people that run the fund but, nevertheless, it hasn’t exactly been great in returns on investment. It’s been pretty stagnant for many, many years,” the governor said. “But nevertheless, I think that’s probably an injury to the fund, so we’re going to be looking at ways that the state of Florida potentially can be holding these Twitter board of directors accountable for breaching their fiduciary duty.”