1 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:07,720 Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. 2 00:00:08,320 --> 00:00:11,559 Speaker 2: Hey it's Sarah Holder. With just a few days to 3 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:15,560 Speaker 2: go until the US presidential election, Elon Musk has become 4 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:19,880 Speaker 2: one of the most vocal Donald Trump supporters online and off. 5 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 3: There. 6 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:24,520 Speaker 1: Take over e laid, Yes, take over. 7 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 3: There's a lot of people out there who, uh, who need. 8 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 4: To vote for President Trump. Okay, so the like, this 9 00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:37,680 Speaker 4: is a real battle. This is a real election battle. 10 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:41,560 Speaker 4: So you need to get frands and family to vote. 11 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:42,840 Speaker 4: Make sure they vote. 12 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:46,680 Speaker 2: The tech ceo has spoken at Trump rallies and funneled 13 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:49,559 Speaker 2: more than one hundred million dollars into getting Trump and 14 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:53,960 Speaker 2: his allies elected. Musk has also created a pro Trump 15 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:57,760 Speaker 2: pack that's giving away million dollar checks to randomly selected 16 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 2: swing state voters who sign a petition to support free 17 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 2: speech and the right to bear arms. Musk is the 18 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:07,840 Speaker 2: richest man in the world with an extremely large megaphone. 19 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 2: It's not too surprising that he's entered the political arena, 20 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:13,679 Speaker 2: but I think a lot of us have been really 21 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:17,640 Speaker 2: curious about how he got here. When did this co 22 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:21,039 Speaker 2: founder of an electric vehicle company turn into such a 23 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 2: big maga guy? What and who is shaping his stances 24 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 2: Our friends over at Elon Inc. Have answers to these 25 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 2: questions and more in their new limited series, Citizen Elon. 26 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 2: It's all about the ways Musk is using his wealth 27 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 2: and power to shape this year's election. Bloomberg's Max Chafkin, 28 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 2: who's been following Elon Musk for years, is your host, 29 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 2: and get ready because we're bringing you the first episode 30 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:50,760 Speaker 2: right now. After that, you can head over to the 31 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:54,320 Speaker 2: Elon ink feed for episode two, The Big Take. We'll 32 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:55,560 Speaker 2: be back next. 33 00:01:55,280 --> 00:02:10,519 Speaker 5: Week, my fellow Americans. Mahallo. 34 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:15,080 Speaker 3: It's April twenty eleven White House Correspondence Dinner in DC, 35 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 3: a giant annual party for politicians and the press Corps. 36 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 3: President Barack Obama on stage, roasting himself, his colleagues, the press, 37 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:27,600 Speaker 3: and the odd celebrity. 38 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:30,919 Speaker 5: As some of you heard, the State of Hawaii released 39 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:40,679 Speaker 5: my official long form birth certificate. Anyway, Donald Trump, let's 40 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:42,960 Speaker 5: say it tonight. 41 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 3: For months leading up to this, Donald Trump was going 42 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 3: on talk shows falsely claiming that Obama wasn't born in 43 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 3: the US, which, if that was true, would have made 44 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:56,160 Speaker 3: him a wrongfully elected president. People believed it. The rumor 45 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:59,120 Speaker 3: grew enough so that Obama had to weigh in. 46 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 5: No one is happier, no one is prouder to put 47 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:08,359 Speaker 5: this birth certificate matter to rest than the Donald. Obviously, 48 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:11,960 Speaker 5: we all know about your credentials and breadth of experience. 49 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:19,560 Speaker 5: Well seriously, just recently, in an episode of Celebrity Apprentice 50 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:25,680 Speaker 5: at the Steakhouse, the men's cooking team did not impress 51 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:30,760 Speaker 5: the judges from Omaha Stakes. And you, mister Trump, recognized 52 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:34,200 Speaker 5: that the real problem was a lack of leadership. And 53 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:38,120 Speaker 5: so ultimately you didn't blame Little John or Meet Loaf. 54 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 5: You fired Gary Musick. And these are the kind of 55 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 5: decisions that would keep me up at night. 56 00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:53,800 Speaker 3: Omarosa Newman, she was actually also on the Apprentice, was 57 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 3: also at the Correspondent Center that night. Later in a 58 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 3: PBS documentary, she said that just. 59 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 1: Kept going and going, and he just kept hammering him, 60 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:09,320 Speaker 1: and I thought, oh, Barack Obama starting something. I don't 61 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:10,880 Speaker 1: know if he'll be able to finish. 62 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:13,440 Speaker 3: Donald Trump went on to beat Hillary Clinton for the 63 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:17,359 Speaker 3: job of president. He literally took over Obama's home and job. 64 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:23,240 Speaker 1: Every critic, every detractor, will have to bow down to 65 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:29,039 Speaker 1: President Trump. It's everyone who's ever doubted Donald, whoever disagreed, 66 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:34,160 Speaker 1: whoever challenged him. It is the ultimate revenge to become 67 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 1: the most powerful man in the universe. 68 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 3: Now fast forward a few more years. It's twenty twenty one. 69 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:46,680 Speaker 3: Joe Biden's the President, and one afternoon on the White 70 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:50,240 Speaker 3: House lawn, he signs an executive order saying that by 71 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:54,720 Speaker 3: twenty thirty, half of all new cars sold would be electric. 72 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:58,960 Speaker 3: It was a piece of Biden's big plan to prioritize 73 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:02,839 Speaker 3: the climate to make evs that's electric vehicles, by the way, 74 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:07,440 Speaker 3: a lot cheaper. This was new Biden all in on 75 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:09,599 Speaker 3: EV's and the big automakers too. 76 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 6: We are the United States of America. There's not a 77 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 6: single solitary thing, nothing beyond our capacity to get done. 78 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:22,719 Speaker 6: I want to thank the CEOs of the automobile companies, 79 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:25,880 Speaker 6: and I also want to thank all the auto workers. 80 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 3: At the White House that day. Are members of Congress, 81 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 3: the UAW, United Auto Workers, and a bunch of big 82 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:36,159 Speaker 3: wigs from the Big Three that's General Motors, Ford and 83 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:41,159 Speaker 3: Stillantis better known as Chrysler. Right before putting pen to paper, 84 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 3: Biden invites his colleagues to come up and stand by 85 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:45,840 Speaker 3: his side. 86 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:48,360 Speaker 6: Come on, let's let the CEOs go too. 87 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:50,520 Speaker 3: Let's let the CEOs through too. 88 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 2: This is an executive or strength in America's leadership and 89 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 2: clean cars and trucks. 90 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:57,280 Speaker 6: And again, let me start up, I thanking. 91 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:00,600 Speaker 2: The CEOs as well as the UAW approach you all 92 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:00,720 Speaker 2: of me. 93 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 5: Why has happened? 94 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:02,800 Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you. 95 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:08,279 Speaker 3: Thank you. There is one guy who'd done more to 96 00:06:08,320 --> 00:06:11,920 Speaker 3: make evs happen than anybody in the Big three, who 97 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:14,919 Speaker 3: was missing from the White House that day, noticeably so, 98 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:23,440 Speaker 3: but he was watching. So on one hand, we've got 99 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:26,680 Speaker 3: Barack Obama roasting Donald Trump and the fallout from that. 100 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:32,039 Speaker 3: On the other, Joe Biden hyping up electric cars, separate 101 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:35,080 Speaker 3: events ten years apart. What do they have to do 102 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:41,920 Speaker 3: with each other? I think kind of a lot. I'm 103 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:46,719 Speaker 3: Max Chafkin, a reporter with Bloomberg BusinessWeek. This is Citizen Elon. 104 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 3: This is a show about Elon Musk, someone I've spent 105 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:59,120 Speaker 3: almost twenty years reporting on. For the longest time, Elon's 106 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 3: been a champion for electric cars, a champion for outer space, 107 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:08,480 Speaker 3: and as of this summer, a champion for Donald Trump. 108 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:13,800 Speaker 3: The Elon I've always known has been largely a political Now. 109 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 3: In the weeks leading up to the twenty twenty four election, 110 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 3: Elon's funneled more than one hundred million dollars into getting 111 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:24,600 Speaker 3: Donald Trump elected. What I'd really like to understand is 112 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:30,400 Speaker 3: what happened. Why is Elon suddenly so committed to Trump winning? 113 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:34,240 Speaker 3: And if it works, if he successfully gets Trump elected, 114 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 3: what's in that for him? The first time I interviewed 115 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 3: Elon Musk was in two thousand and six. Tesla was 116 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:45,400 Speaker 3: just a startup. Today it's the most valuable car company 117 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 3: in the world. You talk to CEOs normally and they're scripted, 118 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:54,400 Speaker 3: they talk in soundbites, and Elon is the opposite. He'll 119 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:57,160 Speaker 3: say whatever he wants, whatever's on his mind. 120 00:07:57,880 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 7: It is a fixer opper of a planet, but eventual, 121 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 7: so you can transform Mars into an Earth like planet. 122 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:04,040 Speaker 6: How would you do that? 123 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 7: You'd warm it up? The fast Way has dropped the 124 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:10,720 Speaker 7: nuclear weapons over the polls. I actually have to say, 125 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 7: we have to keep it essays only questions. Everyone was 126 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:17,320 Speaker 7: a slave everyone, well not everyone was a slave. 127 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:20,320 Speaker 6: No, everyone was a slave. We are all decided from slaves, 128 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:21,320 Speaker 6: all of us. 129 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:23,320 Speaker 7: Yeah, just a question of when. 130 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:28,440 Speaker 3: Of course, Elon could also be cold cruel. Looking back 131 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:30,760 Speaker 3: on it now, I think maybe I was letting him 132 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:34,319 Speaker 3: off too easily paying attention to his achievements and ignoring 133 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:38,960 Speaker 3: his bad behavior. In terms of politics, Elon's always been 134 00:08:39,040 --> 00:08:41,960 Speaker 3: kind of a chameleon. When George W. Bush was president, 135 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:44,640 Speaker 3: Elon didn't have much to say about climate change. He 136 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:48,800 Speaker 3: drove a Porsche. When Barack Obama was president, Elon became 137 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,920 Speaker 3: a green capitalist, ecologically conscious. He wanted a blanket America 138 00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 3: with solar panels. His take on Trump running matched most 139 00:08:56,720 --> 00:08:58,679 Speaker 3: Democrats and moderate Republicans. 140 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 7: You know, hopefully Trump doesn't forget the nomination of you know, 141 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:07,080 Speaker 7: the Republican Party. That's because I think that's, yeah, that 142 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 7: wouldn't be good. 143 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:11,559 Speaker 3: And again, after twenty sixteen, Musk more or less got 144 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:14,960 Speaker 3: on board with Trump, meetings with Steve Bannon, was on 145 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:18,560 Speaker 3: advisory councils to the president. It was business as usual. 146 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:23,320 Speaker 3: But then COVID came. It's something changed, especially after Biden 147 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:24,079 Speaker 3: became president. 148 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 8: You have to remember that, like, you know, Elon Musk 149 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:30,319 Speaker 8: is a guy who can't get enough of the dopamine 150 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 8: feedback of people and crowds and adulation. 151 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:37,120 Speaker 3: Dana Hall is another reporter here at Bloomberg. She also 152 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:38,040 Speaker 3: covers Elon. 153 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 8: Musk and during the pandemic we were all locked down 154 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:45,480 Speaker 8: in our houses. And he was incredibly angry that Tesla's 155 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:49,679 Speaker 8: factory in California was shut down because of COVID restrictions. 156 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:53,800 Speaker 3: On an ernie's call talking to investors, Elon called stay 157 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:56,960 Speaker 3: at home orders in Alameda County, where Tesla's factories were 158 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 3: based fascist quote, this is not democratic, this is not freedom. 159 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:03,880 Speaker 3: Give people back their goddamn freedom. 160 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:06,800 Speaker 8: And then you started seeing more tweets that were kind 161 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:10,480 Speaker 8: of questioning, you know, the efficacy of vaccines, and just 162 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 8: like a little bit more COVID denihilism. 163 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 3: And then Danna said, by this point it was just 164 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:18,360 Speaker 3: a hop, skip and a jump to much fringier conspiracy theories. 165 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:21,720 Speaker 3: And then there was something else that happened during COVID, 166 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 3: something huge. 167 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:25,480 Speaker 8: But at some point Elon Musk became the richest person 168 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:27,319 Speaker 8: in the world. And I think that once you're the 169 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:30,160 Speaker 8: richest person in the world, you are emboldened to do 170 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:32,720 Speaker 8: things that maybe you weren't before. 171 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:42,320 Speaker 3: Let's go back to that summit. August twenty twenty one. 172 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:46,280 Speaker 3: A month after that, Elon's at a tech conference. He's 173 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 3: on stage in front of an audience, and that snub 174 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:52,199 Speaker 3: that he felt he's still thinking about it. 175 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:56,920 Speaker 7: You know, like Biden held this EB summit, didn't invite 176 00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:03,640 Speaker 7: Tesla and invited Jammed Forward, Chrysler, and UW maybe summit 177 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:04,720 Speaker 7: on the White House. 178 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:08,920 Speaker 9: So you were pissed. So this has sound maybe a 179 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:09,680 Speaker 9: little biased. 180 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:14,400 Speaker 3: Eight months go by and Elon sits down for another 181 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:16,960 Speaker 3: interview with the guys running a club for Tesla owners 182 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:20,880 Speaker 3: in Silicon Valley. It's called the Tesla Owners Club of 183 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:25,240 Speaker 3: Silicon Valley. And remember that White House snub. Elon is 184 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:26,800 Speaker 3: still pissed off about it. 185 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:31,880 Speaker 7: Last year, President Biden held an EB summit where Tela 186 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 7: was explicitly not allowed to come. Now, Tela's made two 187 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:38,160 Speaker 7: thirds of all electric vehicles in the United States. Deliberately 188 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 7: excluding us from an EV summit at the White House. 189 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:43,240 Speaker 7: That tells you what you need to know. 190 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:44,600 Speaker 6: It's insane. 191 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:45,320 Speaker 7: Insane. 192 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:49,920 Speaker 3: Fast forward another eighteen months. A year and a half later, 193 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:53,480 Speaker 3: Elon's on stage at a New York Times event. He's 194 00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:56,400 Speaker 3: talking to the financial columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin. 195 00:11:56,720 --> 00:12:00,200 Speaker 1: You've been very frustrated with the Biden administration, feeling like 196 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:03,320 Speaker 1: they did not respect what you've created. 197 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 3: Have you forgotten yet about that White House snub? No, 198 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:08,920 Speaker 3: neither has Elon. 199 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:14,600 Speaker 9: Well, I mean, without any doing nothing to provoke the 200 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:17,679 Speaker 9: Biden administration. They held an electric vehicle summit at the 201 00:12:17,679 --> 00:12:21,199 Speaker 9: White House and specifically refused to let Tesla attend. We've 202 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:24,920 Speaker 9: done nothing to provoke them. Then Biden went on to 203 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:25,959 Speaker 9: add insult injury. 204 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:30,360 Speaker 3: Elon says President Biden even singled out General Motors for 205 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:32,960 Speaker 3: having quote led the ev Revolution. 206 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:35,440 Speaker 9: This was in the same quarter that Tesla made three 207 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:40,920 Speaker 9: hundred thousand electric cars and GM made twenty six. Does 208 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:41,680 Speaker 9: that seem fair to you? 209 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:46,480 Speaker 3: Tesla actually sold three hundred and eight thousand cars that quarter. 210 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:49,600 Speaker 3: Elon's under selling the number. And he's also right about 211 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:53,920 Speaker 3: GM that they really did just sell twenty six. Something 212 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:56,720 Speaker 3: important to note here is that Elon has never been 213 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:00,480 Speaker 3: a fan of labor unions. That's putting it mildly. Joe Biden, 214 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:03,440 Speaker 3: on the other hand, the opposite. Biden loves labor unions. 215 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:06,559 Speaker 3: He's called himself the quote most pro union president in history. 216 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,320 Speaker 3: He made it a big part of his presidential campaign. 217 00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:13,240 Speaker 1: Can you give us any insight into why Tesla wasn't 218 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:14,280 Speaker 1: included in this event? 219 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:15,839 Speaker 6: Well, we of course welcome. 220 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:17,840 Speaker 3: This is from a White House press briefing. 221 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:20,080 Speaker 10: So it's not because Tesla is a non union shop. 222 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:24,120 Speaker 11: Well, these are the three largest employers of the United Autoworkers, 223 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:25,480 Speaker 11: So let dry your own conclusion. 224 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:26,080 Speaker 6: Go ahead. 225 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:32,120 Speaker 3: Translation, Yes, which classic politics, right, But Elon didn't take 226 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 3: it that way. Biden doesn't have to include every automaker. 227 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:40,280 Speaker 3: It's not like Toyota or Volkswagen were there either. But 228 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:43,640 Speaker 3: Elon's reaction was personal. He couldn't seem to move beyond 229 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:46,440 Speaker 3: his own feelings to see this as anything other than 230 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:50,800 Speaker 3: a grievous insult. On the one hand, it's surprising to 231 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:54,560 Speaker 3: see a busy CEO fixate like this. Doesn't he have 232 00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:59,040 Speaker 3: bigger things to worry about. Who cares about GM and Biden? 233 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:02,520 Speaker 3: On the other hand, this is vintage Elon. 234 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:05,120 Speaker 6: You know, if he didn't like what you were doing, 235 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:08,120 Speaker 6: or thought you were an idiot, or any one of 236 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:10,520 Speaker 6: these sort of negative reactions to you. 237 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:14,000 Speaker 3: Personally, this is Jim Cantrell. He was on the founding 238 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:17,080 Speaker 3: team at SpaceX for a long time. He and Elon 239 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:18,200 Speaker 3: worked closely together. 240 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:20,920 Speaker 6: He wouldn't come talk to you about it. He would 241 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:23,960 Speaker 6: either call you an idiot, he would tell you you're wrong, 242 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:28,640 Speaker 6: He would challenge you. He would yell at you, and 243 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:31,120 Speaker 6: then later he'd just fire you. 244 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:37,360 Speaker 3: Elon is indisputably really impressive. Jim agrees, but Jim also 245 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:40,400 Speaker 3: could not take Elon's mood swings, and so he quit. 246 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:44,320 Speaker 6: By the way, that's a controversial topic that he. 247 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 3: Last year, the writer Walter Isaacson published a sprawling biography 248 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:52,400 Speaker 3: of Elon's life. So far, Elon participated in the book's creation. 249 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:55,640 Speaker 3: He talked to Isaacson, and when he talked about his 250 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:57,560 Speaker 3: early days at SpaceX. 251 00:14:57,360 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 6: He told Isaacson that I wasn't employee. And I don't 252 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:02,280 Speaker 6: know why he says that. 253 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:06,040 Speaker 3: But I was, yeah, we're not sorry. I'm not trying 254 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:07,640 Speaker 3: to litigate this. I just know I. 255 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:13,600 Speaker 6: Understand it's a short point for me, so I am. 256 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:17,960 Speaker 3: This fixation on credit, this pettiness, it's also vintage Elon. 257 00:15:19,320 --> 00:15:22,120 Speaker 3: He actually got into it big time with Martin Eberhard, 258 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:27,200 Speaker 3: the guy who started Tesla. Martin himself claimed that Elon 259 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:29,080 Speaker 3: was taking up more than his share of credit for 260 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:32,360 Speaker 3: the company. And even though these guys settled their lawsuit 261 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:35,040 Speaker 3: in two thousand and nine, it's something Elon still brings 262 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:39,800 Speaker 3: up all the time. I told jim My theory about 263 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:43,640 Speaker 3: the correspondence dinner and the EV summit, and I asked him, 264 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:46,000 Speaker 3: does he see the same parallels that I do. 265 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:46,920 Speaker 8: I do. 266 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:51,760 Speaker 6: Yeah, I think he and Trump probably feel a kinship. 267 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:57,680 Speaker 6: There's a certain this resonates with what I understand of Elon. 268 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:00,480 Speaker 6: There's a certain sort of sense of fairness and fair 269 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:03,000 Speaker 6: play that, like Trump, he feels violated. 270 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:08,120 Speaker 3: Where Jim's take diverge from mine was about Elon's feelings. 271 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:13,080 Speaker 3: I just think Elon was hurt, and maybe justifiably hurt. 272 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:18,280 Speaker 3: Like this guy revolutionized the electric vehicle industry, he spends 273 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:22,400 Speaker 3: you know, a decade and a half not taken seriously 274 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:25,840 Speaker 3: called a joke, and then the President of the United 275 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:30,600 Speaker 3: States basically finally embraces it, like everything that Elon has 276 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:33,400 Speaker 3: imagined is happening without him. 277 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm going to tell you something that goes against 278 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:42,600 Speaker 6: that theory. Elon, I don't think he was hurt by it. 279 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:44,840 Speaker 6: I think he didn't really want to be part of 280 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:51,400 Speaker 6: that crowd. I don't think he cared. There's a certain 281 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:54,600 Speaker 6: rage in the Machine song, you know, you'll do what 282 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:56,880 Speaker 6: I want to. I mean that if I had a 283 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:58,600 Speaker 6: theme song for Elon, that would be it. 284 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:02,640 Speaker 3: That the conference was the summer of twenty twenty one. 285 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:06,120 Speaker 3: Within a few months, the rage started to bubble up, 286 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:11,920 Speaker 3: and it was a very specific, politically charged rage, usually 287 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:16,000 Speaker 3: in tweet form, usually some right wing line about Biden 288 00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:19,640 Speaker 3: being too old, calling Biden quote a damp sock puppet 289 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:22,439 Speaker 3: in human form, or saying Biden looks good for a 290 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:25,800 Speaker 3: two hundred year old. When I read these, I could 291 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:29,520 Speaker 3: tell that Elon was mad. What I couldn't tell is 292 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:33,320 Speaker 3: where these insults, these specific words were coming from. 293 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:36,399 Speaker 11: NPC is the biggest one to me. 294 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 3: Ellie Reeve is a CNN correspondent. She spent the past 295 00:17:41,160 --> 00:17:44,560 Speaker 3: ten years or so covering the far right. In November 296 00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:48,399 Speaker 3: twenty twenty one, she noticed this tweet from Elon. It 297 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:51,479 Speaker 3: was a random comment on a six month old video 298 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:55,960 Speaker 3: where Biden was praising the Autoworkers Union. Elon responded to 299 00:17:56,000 --> 00:18:00,240 Speaker 3: that video by tweeting that Biden quote talk it's like 300 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:05,199 Speaker 3: an NPC with a limited dialogue tree. That acronym is 301 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:06,479 Speaker 3: what caught Ellie's attention. 302 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:09,400 Speaker 11: N PC from non player character, comes from a video 303 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:12,480 Speaker 11: game world. It's like, you know, instead of the character 304 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:15,040 Speaker 11: that you can play, it's this static character with no 305 00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:19,119 Speaker 11: interiority that gives you directions or something. And in the 306 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:24,399 Speaker 11: four Chan world, that's their term for unthinking liberals. 307 00:18:25,040 --> 00:18:28,680 Speaker 3: Real quick. Four Chan was this free for all online 308 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:32,080 Speaker 3: forum where people would share memes. It's also where a 309 00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:36,760 Speaker 3: lot of Donald Trump's early support comes from. You've probably 310 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:40,000 Speaker 3: heard this term alt right that started on four Chan. 311 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:44,359 Speaker 3: Back to Ellie and the NPCs, the tweet she noticed 312 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:47,360 Speaker 3: it was basically Elon calling Biden a tool of the elite. 313 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 3: And I don't mean elite in the normal sense. I 314 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:53,840 Speaker 3: mean it in the conspiratorial sense of an elite cabal, 315 00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:58,720 Speaker 3: probably Jewish, that is secretly out to get us. Ellie says, 316 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:01,399 Speaker 3: NPC is a kind of act that would normally be 317 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:05,359 Speaker 3: thrown around by neo Nazis, men's rights groups, proud boys 318 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:06,240 Speaker 3: in cells. 319 00:19:06,880 --> 00:19:08,840 Speaker 11: Elon Musk is a very powerful person. 320 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:09,639 Speaker 3: You know. 321 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:13,239 Speaker 11: He's not a guy with a Twitter handle like this 322 00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:18,840 Speaker 11: guy can influence wars. Does Elon have the social skills 323 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:21,359 Speaker 11: to actually lead a massive men I don't know, But 324 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:26,240 Speaker 11: does he have enough of a network to spread these 325 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:29,920 Speaker 11: ideas into like among people who are in the position 326 00:19:29,960 --> 00:19:33,240 Speaker 11: to truly affect how the government works? Like that's the 327 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:34,000 Speaker 11: question for me. 328 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:37,280 Speaker 3: Ellie's not alone on this one. And she's certainly not 329 00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:40,840 Speaker 3: the only person who's noticing Elon's changing politics. 330 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:44,119 Speaker 10: The first thing that I really noticed about Musk was 331 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:46,880 Speaker 10: during the rise of the all Right. 332 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:51,120 Speaker 3: Joe Novan is a sociologist. She specializes in disinformation, that's 333 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:55,320 Speaker 3: people or groups who lie on purpose for political gain. 334 00:19:55,960 --> 00:20:00,320 Speaker 10: He seemed to be very cued into the idea of 335 00:20:00,359 --> 00:20:01,720 Speaker 10: population collapse. 336 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:04,520 Speaker 3: In this idea, this is like the NPC thing. It 337 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:07,040 Speaker 3: doesn't sound that bad on its face, but if you're 338 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:10,360 Speaker 3: paying attention to the subtext, it's not just about babies. 339 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:14,600 Speaker 10: He seems to believe that the wrong kind of people 340 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:22,000 Speaker 10: are the ones who are reproducing because white people are 341 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:25,480 Speaker 10: not reproducing at the same rate as other people. He 342 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:32,760 Speaker 10: does really get his hackles up about population collapse and 343 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:36,439 Speaker 10: about this idea that white people might not be the 344 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:38,640 Speaker 10: dominant culture going forward. 345 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:45,520 Speaker 3: Right eugenics a discredited theory about selective breeding. By the way, 346 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:48,040 Speaker 3: we invited Elon must to come talk to us or 347 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:52,480 Speaker 3: to provide comment. He didn't respond. Another thing that Elon's 348 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:56,399 Speaker 3: growing interested in, and I mean really interested in, is 349 00:20:56,520 --> 00:21:02,239 Speaker 3: free speech, specifically the idea that right wing guys on 350 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:06,320 Speaker 3: the Internet are being suppressed by social media sites those 351 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:09,080 Speaker 3: right wing guys, though I don't think they were really 352 00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:12,720 Speaker 3: paying attention to Musk, not yet Anyway. When did he 353 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:15,160 Speaker 3: start mattering to them as a as a figure. 354 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:18,679 Speaker 10: Around the time he started to say that he should 355 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:23,160 Speaker 10: just buy Twitter. That's when I first saw the far 356 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:28,440 Speaker 10: right really starting to believe he was a mover and 357 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:31,000 Speaker 10: that he was going to do something huge. 358 00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:34,879 Speaker 3: After the attacks on the Capitol on January sixth, in 359 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:38,400 Speaker 3: twenty twenty one, Twitter banned tens of thousands of accounts 360 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:41,440 Speaker 3: associated with the right wing conspiracy theory known as QAnon. 361 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:45,240 Speaker 3: They even van Donald Trump's account permanently for the role 362 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:49,840 Speaker 3: he played in inciting violence. Then in March of twenty 363 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:55,720 Speaker 3: twenty two, something happened that especially Claudilan's attention. Twitter suspends 364 00:21:56,160 --> 00:22:00,320 Speaker 3: this satirical newspaper, the Babylon Beat. They're like a right 365 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:03,440 Speaker 3: wing version of The Onion. The Bee had tweeted about 366 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:06,800 Speaker 3: a trans woman who was a White House staffer. They 367 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:10,320 Speaker 3: called her Man of the Year. Twitter said that violated 368 00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:14,240 Speaker 3: its policy against hateful conduct. The bees owner refused to 369 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:17,560 Speaker 3: take the tweet down. Musk hears about this from his 370 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:20,879 Speaker 3: ex wife, Tallula Riley. She sends him a text A 371 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:24,560 Speaker 3: few days later, quote, America is going insane, it says 372 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:28,560 Speaker 3: the Babylon b suspension got crazy. Can you buy Twitter 373 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:29,200 Speaker 3: and then delete it? 374 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:29,560 Speaker 7: Please? 375 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:32,840 Speaker 3: Or can you buy Twitter and make it radically free speech? 376 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:35,720 Speaker 3: And so he did. 377 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:39,040 Speaker 12: Welcome to Tucker Carlson said, a good news show. Don't 378 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:42,040 Speaker 12: get those two often. It's April twenty fifth, twenty twenty two. 379 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:48,760 Speaker 12: Elon Musk bought Twitter today. Unlike the leaders of Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon, 380 00:22:49,359 --> 00:22:53,159 Speaker 12: Elon Musk believes in free speech is the single biggest 381 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:57,159 Speaker 12: political development since Donald Trump's election in twenty sixteen. It 382 00:22:57,240 --> 00:23:00,119 Speaker 12: is certainly the most threatening challenge to the corrupt and 383 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:02,240 Speaker 12: incompetent leadership of this country. 384 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:03,600 Speaker 7: Now that I. 385 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:08,119 Speaker 3: Remember watching this and rolling my eyes, I thought, Elon 386 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:11,840 Speaker 3: Musk is no free speech savior. He's a business guy 387 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:15,440 Speaker 3: who's just spent forty four billion dollars to buy Twitter. 388 00:23:16,359 --> 00:23:19,000 Speaker 3: Why would he mess with that. He's got other companies 389 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:24,080 Speaker 3: to worry about. But now looking back, I think Tucker 390 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:30,160 Speaker 3: really was seeing something, something seismic and inevitable. For years, 391 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,560 Speaker 3: Elon and Trump have been marching in the same general direction, 392 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:38,320 Speaker 3: which makes sense. They are a lot alike. They both 393 00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:41,800 Speaker 3: come from privileged backgrounds, They both grew up under hugely 394 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 3: accomplished fathers whose shadows they wanted out from under. They 395 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:48,720 Speaker 3: both thought hard for their rightful place, not just to 396 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:51,359 Speaker 3: be inside of the rooms where history happens, but to 397 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:53,960 Speaker 3: be the ones in charge. But they never really made 398 00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:57,200 Speaker 3: it all the way through the door. To President Obama. 399 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 3: Trump was a punchline to President Biden. Elon was irrelevant. 400 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:05,440 Speaker 3: There's something Jim told me, he's a guy who worked 401 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,119 Speaker 3: at SpaceX with Elon, that I keep coming back to. 402 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:11,959 Speaker 3: It's about that correspondent's dinner and the Evy Summit. 403 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:15,400 Speaker 6: It's a slight that tells you that they think they're 404 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:18,439 Speaker 6: the parents sitting at the table and your child is 405 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:22,960 Speaker 6: not invited. And I can see Elon wanting to just 406 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:25,159 Speaker 6: destroy the table, burn it to the ground. 407 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:29,200 Speaker 3: What does Elon do right after closing the Twitter deal? 408 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:35,360 Speaker 3: He reinstates Donald Trump's account. If you can't join them, 409 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:45,639 Speaker 3: beat them, that's next time. Citizen Elon is produced by 410 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:49,840 Speaker 3: Lina Mesitzi's Rayhon Armonci is our senior editor, Blake Maple's 411 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:54,520 Speaker 3: handles engineering, and William Elstrom fact checking. Brendan Francis Newnham 412 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:57,240 Speaker 3: is our executive producer, Sage Bauman is the head of 413 00:24:57,240 --> 00:25:01,840 Speaker 3: Bloomberg Podcasts. Big thanks to the Elon crew David Papadopolis, 414 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:07,199 Speaker 3: Naomi Shaven, Magnus Hendrickson, Stacy Wong listen every Tuesday for 415 00:25:07,280 --> 00:25:11,679 Speaker 3: breaking Elon news, and thanks to our Bloomberg colleagues David Fox, 416 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:16,160 Speaker 3: Julia Press, Dana Hull, Sarah Fryar, Kurt Wagner, Mark Millian, 417 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:21,560 Speaker 3: Becca Greenfield, Margaret Sutherland, Alison Mobley, Jackie Kessler, Ariel Brown, 418 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:25,800 Speaker 3: Chris Nescenzo, and Albert Hicks. An extra big thanks to 419 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:28,960 Speaker 3: Brad Stone, editor of BusinessWeek, and Katie Boyce, executive editor 420 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:32,879 Speaker 3: of Bloomberg Digital, for their unflagging support. Part two of 421 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:35,640 Speaker 3: Citizen Elon comes out next week, and since we won't 422 00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:38,560 Speaker 3: know how this thing ends until after the election, that's 423 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:41,280 Speaker 3: when you'll hear the last part of our series. I'm 424 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:43,639 Speaker 3: Max Chafkin. If you have a minute, rate and review 425 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:47,639 Speaker 3: our show, it'll help other listeners find us. Thanks again,