How Musk went from Democrat donor to Republican voterpublished at 23:10
Katharine Sharpe
Technology reporter
Musk has undergone something of a political U-turn over the past decade – which can be documented via his own posts on Twitter, now X.
In the past, he openly expressed approval of former presidents Obama, Clinton and JFK – all of them of course Democrats. He donated money to Hilary Clinton, who lost to her Republican rival, Donald Trump, in 2016.
By 2020 though, he was describing himself as voting “reluctantly” for Joe Biden, in his successful bid to replace Trump.
Four years on and his journey to the political right is complete – with Musk saying in July that he “fully endorsed” the man he opposed in 2020. He has suggested however it is the Democrats who have changed rather him – arguing the party he previously supported had been “hijacked by extremists”.
It appears it is not just a matter of political philosophy however – in 2022 he complained on X that leading Democrats had launched “unprovoked attacks against him” and given a “very cold shoulder” to his companies Tesla and SpaceX.
