According to a Wall Street Journal columnist, Elon Musk has become Donald Trump's “spiritual heir” because of his populism, his fan base and his ability to spin ideas around his worldview.
According to Tim Higgins, whose writings specialize in Musk and his companies, Musk and Trump are both entrepreneurs, provocative on social issues, politically incorrect, and have built a populist following “through years of clever use of Twitter-turned-X.” .
“For many, Musk’s evolution from green energy engineer to self-proclaimed chief troll officer has made the billionaire the spiritual heir to Trump,” only now “even more influential,” Higgins wrote.
Higgins writes that Musk has mastered Trump's ability to whip up a storm on social media and fire up his fan base, citing an example from earlier this week in which the tech tycoon suggested that corporate diversity efforts could jeopardize air travel safety .
“It will take a plane crash and the killing of hundreds of people to change these crazy DIE policies,” Musk wrote on his X platform on Tuesday, rearranging the acronym for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).
According to a WSJ columnist, Elon Musk has become the “spiritual heir” to Donald Trump
Musk also adopts Trump's gigantic self-confidence and bravery, writes Tim Higgins
During the 2020 campaign, Trump signed an executive order against DEI initiatives such as racial sensitivity training and the teaching of critical race theory in federal institutions, which he described as “vicious ideology” and “divisive, anti-American propaganda,” respectively.
Musk has adopted other rhetoric from the former president, including spreading fear about the impact of mass migration to the US.
Last week, Musk wrote on X that the government would begin forcing Americans to shelter migrants in their homes after a Brooklyn school closed for a day.
“This is what happens when you run out of hotel rooms.” “Soon there will be no more schools in the cities that have to be evacuated,” said the Tesla CEO.
Adding: “Then they will take your houses.”
Musk's post included a video showing migrant buses pulling up to the school on Tuesday evening after officials switched students to remote learning on Wednesday to provide shelter for the asylum seekers currently housed in the tent shelter at Bennet Airfield.
There is no evidence that any local government in the country has attempted or plans to force people to house migrants in hostels.
Additionally, Musk has followed Trump in spreading misinformation about the results of the 2020 election.
This is what happens when you run out of hotel rooms. Soon there will be no more schools in the cities that need to be evacuated. Then they will come to your home. https://t.co/MQ159OlOXc
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 9, 2024
The former president refused to accept the results of the 2020 election
Musk has followed Trump in spreading misinformation about the results of the 2020 election
Last May, he posted an article on Twitter claiming that the contests were “bought by Mark Zuckerberg.”
Trump allies had spread the baseless idea that donations from people like Zuckerberg to a group called the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) amounted to partisan election interference.
Musk also takes on Trump's gigantic self-confidence and bravery, writes Higgins.
Responding to a recent Wall Street Journal report about Musk's drug use that raised concerns among his board members and executives, Musk responded that he had not failed any drug tests and emphasized the success of his businesses.
“Whatever I do, of course I should keep doing it!” he wrote on X.
Republican pollster Frank Luntz notes that when conducting focus groups, the two men are often compared and supported by the same group of people.
“People’s reaction.” [for both men] is: “Well, good for him, … I don't always agree with what he says, I don't necessarily like how he says it, but I like what he does, he shakes things up,” Luntz said the journal.
Higgins goes on to say that Musk is seen by his base as a poster boy for the “original American dream” because the US told the King of England to essentially “go for it” more than 200 years ago. has paved the way for Musk to do the same with “the CEO of Disney.”
The supporters he has built see Musk as “an immigrant who, against all odds, repeatedly gambled away everything,” who “made it in America” after hard work and dismantling the elites.