Elon Musk is increasingly clear that his current political choice is the Republican Party, which is known to be conservative, although in the past he has leant more towards the liberal Democratic Party. What is the reason?
Behind the scenes, Musk and the giants he leads, SpaceX and Tesla, are trying to influence the political landscape of the United States through lobbying and donations. SpaceX and Tesla spent more than $2 million on lobbying in 2021, for both parties.
But now, Democratic President Joe Biden's leadership makes Elon unhappy. Elon was known to be anti-union, opposed to taxes on the rich and often criticized Biden. Biden did push for unions and taxes on the super-rich.
On the other hand, Elon moved the Tesla factory to Texas led by the Republican governor, Gregg Abott. Abott said Elon agreed with conservative policies in his state including restricting abortion and banning LGBTQ books from the school curriculum.
"In the past, I voted for Democrats because they were the best party. But they turned into a party of hatred and division, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican," Elon Musk tweeted.
"Now, just watch their (Democrat) smear campaign coming to me," he added, as quoted by CNBC, Thursday (19/3/2022).
Not long ago, the man born in South Africa also confirmed that he had crossed over to the Republican Party. Whereas previously, he admitted that he was happy to vote for the Democratic Party.
"I would classify myself as a moderate, not a Republican or a Democrat. In fact, I tended to vote for a Democrat in the past. Back then I probably would have never voted for a Republican. Now in this election? I'd vote for a Republican," said Elon Musk.
