Elon Musk Enters Uncharted Territory With Trump Endorsement

Roughly 30 minutes after Donald Trump was shot, Elon Musk backed his bid for the White House. Musk entered uncharted territory. He broke with tradition set by the leaders of other major social media firms, none of whom have endorsed a presidential candidate. By using X as a megaphone for his politics—posting to his nearly 190 million followers—Musk also erased any air of neutrality for the platform. Musk’s full-throated support for the Republican candidates raises questions about how their opponents can expect to be treated on this site. “He can fashion the platform in his image,” said Gita Johar, a professor at Columbia Business School who studies consumer behavior. “He’s got a huge following and makes no bones on where he stands on issues and politics.” He has also turned the notion that the tech industry supports Democratic candidates on its head. For all the complaints that social media platforms have censored Trump and other Republicans in recent years, no senior executive at one of the companies has openly expressed a preference for a Democratic candidate.