Over the weekend, Elon Musk pledged to donate $1 a month to registered voters in key US states while signing a petition to support America's First and Second Amendments. He presented the first prize, a novelty check the size of a kitchen island, at the Pennsylvania rally on Saturday and on the second Sunday in Pittsburgh. He says he will continue to do so until the November 5 elections. The trick was a possible outlaw, experts say.
After receiving an endorsement from Donald Trump in July, Musk soon founded America Back, funding it with $75 million. For the past few weeks, he has been campaigning in person several times a day, focusing particularly on the swing state of Pennsylvania.
What is Musk campaigning for?
My colleagues Nick Robbins-Early and Rachel Leingong published an article last week analyzing Musk's inevitable influence on the US presidential election. The article delves into Musk's political activities over the past few months, but I was especially drawn to a question it raises: Is deregulation the driving force behind Musk's political efforts around the world? Is all this propaganda cutting government departments?
Rachel and Nick write:
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These ongoing battles with a whole list of regulatory agencies have led Musk to make numerous public statements in favor of deregulation and to call for a full-scale audit of the federal government. That idea found favor with Trump, who in September announced the launch of a government efficiency commission headed by Musk that would audit federal agencies for places to cut. Musk likes to call it the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOG, invoking one of his favorite memes, the expressive Shiba Inu.
While the plan is vague on details and Musk has not addressed an apparent conflict over auditing regulators who oversee his companies, both Trump and Musk have repeatedly floated the idea that Musk should have some role in a potential administration. of Trump. During an appearance on Fox News earlier this week, Trump said he would appoint Musk, creating a new position called “Spending Reduction Secretary.”
“He's willing to do this,” Trump said.
What does Musk want for the rest of the world?
Musk's push to shrink government is not limited to the United States. Sometimes his fights with “controllers” pit him against other billionaires. In India, Musk fights the government over the delivery of satellite broadband and wins against Mukesh Ambani. Asia's richest man sought more favorable terms for his own telecommunications empire.
He declared himself a “free speech absolutist” and complained about speech regulators. As the United Kingdom descended into violent race riots a month after the general election, Musk tweeted that “civil war is inevitable” and posted a cartoon showing a character in the electric chair, saying government punishment would be gratuitous. . UK speech 2030. He has made similar criticisms of the California government and Joe Biden's administration.
His fight for deregulation often pits him against the judiciary of the country in which he operates. Last month, Brazil blocked access to X after failing to comply with a judge's orders and fined SpaceX subsidiary Starlink for its sister company's violations. Musk and X finally agreed.
Are regulators cracking down on musk?
Recently, some regulators have adopted a new tactic: They have started fining one Musk company for what another Musk company (or Musk himself) did.
Last week, European regulators took a page from Brazil's book and contacted lawyers for X. The EU can impose fines on a social media company for failing to comply with the Digital Services Law. Basically, regulators recommend that the tax be calculated on the total income of Musk's businesses, not just the income of X. The penalties, presumably very high, can hurt the social media platform financially.
In California, the Coastal Commission cited Musk's willingness to tweet false information during a vote to reject a request by SpaceX and the US Air Force to launch more rockets from a base off the beach in Santa Barbara. Musk filed a lawsuit in response, alleging political bias and violating the First Amendment. He wants to be left alone to launch rockets, tweet, and quietly spend billions on presidential campaigns.
