Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla, has publicly endorsed Donald Trump for the first time in the US Presidential race, calling the Republican former president “tough.”
Musk, the world’s richest person, posted the endorsement with a video of Trump with blood on his face pumping his fist after multiple shots rang out at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
The posts cement Musk’s shift towards right-wing politics and hand Trump a high-profile backer in his quest to return to the White House in the November 5 election.
“I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” Musk posted on his social media platform X.
“The martyr lived,” he wrote, opens new tab in a later post, citing a reported debate between conservative venture capitalist Peter Thiel and LinkedIn co-founder and Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman.
Musk later posted a photograph of Trump at the event, followed by: “Last time America had a candidate this tough was Theodore Roosevelt.”
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The South African-born businessman’s sway stands to benefit Trump, since Musk has one of the largest footprints on X with 189.5 million followers, meaning his posts can instantaneously spread widely.
Musk has said he previously voted for Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton as well as Biden.
However, in the last few years, Musk has espoused right-wing views, becoming a fierce critic of diversity initiatives, Biden’s immigration policies and complaining that Democrats had given a “very cold shoulder” to Tesla and his rocket company SpaceX.
