Staff Writer Thomas Chamberlain examines the rise of Elon Musk’s political power, arguing that the weaknesses of various left-leaning governments have enabled deeply troubling right-wing movements across the globe.
In 2016, Elon Musk dug a tunnel under Los Angeles after being angry about traffic. He then created a company, made hats with the company’s logo, and sold 20,000 branded flamethrowers. A week later, he put his car onto the strongest rocket on Earth and launched it into orbit before the rocket landed itself. And of course, the next thing you do after launching your personal car into orbit is get into politics.
Between being chosen to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and toying with dismantling the UK’s democracy because he didn’t like Keir Starmer, Elon Musk has promoted a myriad of conversations in the past few weeks. These actions are evidence of Musk’s recent development into public political consciousness and will foreshadow the next four years of global politics.
Musk is well within President Donald Trump’s inner circle, a man who already has been at the centre of political controversies throughout his career. At the end of the day, Musk must demonstrate loyalty towards Trump’s policies. Trump has built his presidential personality around being a strong political force, so it’s not a very good look to have one of your closest allies disagree with things you’ve said.
As the 78-year-old President becomes much more aggressive in his politics, it is important to ask: what good can come of Musk’s involvement in international affairs?
Elon Musk was born in South Africa and has made a name for himself (alongside billions of dollars) with his business enterprises. His first was Zip2, but his first well-known company was ‘X.com’ (a banking software created in 2000, not Twitter), an older online payment platform which merged with Confinity to create PayPal. Musk became CEO of PayPal, but only for a year, since he was reportedly ‘ousted’ by other founders while on holiday in Australia.
Musk later turned his sights to space travel and founded SpaceX as a cheaper alternative to NASA. So far SpaceX has been relatively successful, with multiple high-profile feats under their belt alongside operating around 66% of NASA’s launches. He was also a prolific investor of silicon-valley startup car firm Tesla, becoming both the CEO and effective spokesperson of the electric car company. Overall, it has been ventures like these which have earned Musk billions of dollars.
And as a billionaire, the first thing you do is get into politics.
As stated previously, Musk is going to be a major player in the Trump administration, not only through his government position but also on his social platform, Twitter (I’m not calling it X, I don’t care). However, as of late, his most infamous foray into politics has been his back-and-forth with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. Musk seesawed from teasing a multi-million dollar donation to slamming Farage saying he was unfit to run the party.
This came as a shock to many, including Farage, who tweeted that it was a surprise to see that Musk publicly announced that he ‘doesn’t have what it takes’ to be Reform leader. This goes after the pair disagreed about Tommy Robinson, a convicted criminal who spread lies about a Syrian teenager while himself being an influential member of anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant organisations. It is also impressive that Farage is opposed to Robinson since if Nigel Farage believes you are too ignorant, you have to be professionally ignorant.
That also makes Elon Musk the CEO of ignorance, since after purchasing Twitter he has used his account to platform some pretty concerning beliefs, like when he supported a claim that pilots from historically black colleges and universities had lower IQs than other pilots, or when he supported a blatant anti-Jewish remark to be ‘the actual truth‘.
He has covered ‘hard-left’ deep state conspiracies, raved about fertility crises, and ran polls asking whether the United States should ‘liberate’ Britain from our tyrannical government. This language is incredibly frightening, as usually when America says they want to ‘liberate’ a country, generally not the greatest things happen. Just ask Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, or any country in South America.
Elon Musk is the latest player in the expanding story of right-wing nationalism in European politics. Of course, the UK has Nigel Farage, a man who has blamed immigrants for traffic, agreed with the ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech (which foretold of a race war in Britain) and defended the use of a slur to describe a Chinese person. In Germany, this has also been the case, with the Right-wing party AfD (Alternative for Germany) having such characters like Maximilian Krah, who supported a ‘confederacy of fatherlands’, and Christian Lüth, who wanted to shoot (or gas) immigrants at the border. However, both Farage and AfD have seen growing electoral success in their respective countries.
This represents a global pattern, where democracies around the world have decided to support right-wing politicians, like in Italy or France. People across Europe have become increasingly frustrated with rising unemployment, economic stagnation and, of course, immigration. Public support for the right-wing has put the ball firmly in the left’s court, but left-wing parties across the world have just watched to ball go out for a point.
In 2024, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris failed to keep the Democrats in the White House, practically opening the door for Donald Trump to walk in. The Democrats’ campaign simply could not keep up with Trump’s, which captured public appeal with visits to popular entertainers Joe Rogan, Andrew Schulz, and the human stain of Adin Ross. One Rolling Stone article posits that Trump made the Republican Party look ‘cool and edgy’, drawing in swathes of voters from the 18-24 pool.
It wasn’t much better in the UK, as a dismal election turnout ousted the Conservatives and replaced them with Labour, who threw away their ‘honeymoon’ period by raising tuition fees (thanks Keir) and fumbling with pensioners’ fuel allowances. Now, Keir Starmer is in the midst of a ‘Grooming Gangs’ crisis, possibly accelerated by Musk’s constant remarks on Twitter, amongst other figures like Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.
Elon Musk and other right-wing ideologues have snatched onto the growing weaknesses of left-wing politicians in the US and Europe. The Democrats were out of touch in the US, giving no real policy suggestions while enabling Trump to run his publicity circuit. In the UK, the human embodiment of a plank of wood entered Number 10 with promises of, um, something, I think? The Democrats were about as genuine as a diverse group of friends on the cover of a maths textbook and Labour was about as interesting as a tall glass of water.
It raises the question, what are the real defences to the right? Before Trump’s inauguration, he threatened to invade Greenland and Panama and economically attack Canada, Mexico and China, all the while attempting to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. If the left has answered the credible threats of the right with practically nothing, what stops Trump from turning Canada into the 51st state? Will Greenland become number 52? Mexico number 53?
This is the real threat that Elon Musk personifies. Old people are scared of changing circumstances due to an increase in immigration, workers have seen taxes stifle their opportunities and young people have seen left-leaning governments fumble education and employment. The right’s answers to these questions have been the enforcement of traditional values, chauvinism and returning to simpler times; of course, at the expense of LGBTQ+ people, women, and immigrants. The world has been so mismanaged as of late that people like Elon Musk have garnered popularity and have used their position to spread some pretty concerning ideas.
Like the great replacement theory, where one believes that ‘others’ are replacing native citizens from employment, education, and tax benefits. It was this theory that accelerated the Charlottesville protests in 2017. It is important to note, however, that the great replacement theory was utilised by the Nazis to excuse laws against Jewish people. And we all know how that turned out.
Elon Musk is not a Nazi, at least not yet. But it is his rhetoric, alongside other right-wing politicians, that is most concerning. Unlike in 1930s Germany, extremism is not hovering around one centre but within many localised factions. It is different people who spread antisemitism online and burn books in town squares. Yet instead of moving away from these activities, people like Musk have been fanning the flames through their rhetoric. And now, because of Elon Musk’s antics on Inauguration Day, everyone knows what a ‘Roman salute’ is.
Terrible things happen around the world. And every time something terrible happens, like a Pogrom thinly veiled as a protest supporting traditional values, or some racist criminal is martyred, I am reminded of a quote: ‘That was but a prelude; where they burn books, they will ultimately burn people as well.’
The second I saw that Musk started talking about ‘liberating’ the British from their ‘tyrannical leaders’, I felt genuine disgust. Elon has no place in British politics and neither does anyone who shares his beliefs. Yet, people listen to him, adore and support him, all the while they fall back on tired stereotypes and soundbites every time I push back and debate against him. The chance that Elon Musk will lead to a revolution here in Britain is slim, but it’s a chance nonetheless. In any case, revolution won’t come from Musk, but from those who are already here. From people whose frustration leads to their ignorance, from people who blindly believe the hateful and evil and from people who support fascistic displays of violence and conquest. And it’s all the worse for me since Elon Musk has threatened to buy Liverpool Football Club.
I knew Mo Salah shouldn’t have posted a Christmas photo to Instagram. Now look what’s happened.
