Elon Musk has thrown his support behind Donald Trump in the presidential race but, it appears that his employees at Tesla and SpaceX are largely backing Kamala Harris with their donations.
Musk’S employees have donated more to Harris than Trump.
Musk, known for demanding hard work and loyalty from his staff, has previously dismissed employees of X – formerly Twitter – who criticized him.
According to OpenSecrets, Tesla employees have donated $42,824 to Harris’ campaign, compared to $24,840 to Trump’s. Similarly, SpaceX workers have contributed $34,526 to Harris versus a mere $7,652 to Trump.
Interestingly, even employees at X have shown more financial support for Harris, donating $13,213 against less than $500 for Trump.
While these figures may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of campaign fundraising, they do reveal political preferences within Musk’s companies that contradict his own.
Musk’s employees don’t seem to favor the candidate he does.
Musk, currently the world’s wealthiest individual, has publicly endorsed Trump on X and has been critical of left-leaning ideologies, referring to them as a “woke mind virus.”
Despite supporting President Joe Biden in 2020, he has since shifted towards more conservative views.
Biden sparked controversy with Musk when he praised a rival electric vehicle executive for “electrifying the entire automobile industry” in America.
This statement, made about General Motors CEO Mary Barra in 2021, was seen as a snub to Musk, who many credit with driving the popularity of electric vehicles in the United States.
Since then, Musk – a 2020 Biden voter who claimed to have never voted for Republicans – has created an alliance with Trump.
Tesla and Musk were incensed by Biden’s cold shoulder, but it seemed the entire Democratic Party was drawing Musk’s ire as Biden’s presidency progressed.
These issues have led Musk to form alliances with Capitol Hill’s Republicans, despite Tesla benefitting from Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and Musk’s personal wealth growing during the Biden presidency.
Musk expressed his belief that he and the Republican Party were more closely aligned on their “core values” than he and the Democrats.
He said: “One of those values being meritocracy, as much meritocracy as possible, so you get ahead as a function of your skill, and nothing else.”
Musk has increasingly aligned with the GOP on social issues, revealing that he felt “tricked” by the “woke mind virus” into allowing one of his sons to transition.
He expressed support for a PAC advocating for minimal government intervention and criticized the state’s increasing restrictions.
In response, Trump stated that if victorious in the November 5 election, he would appoint Musk to head a government efficiency commission.
“He’s a very smart guy. I certainly would, if he would do it, I certainly would. He’s a brilliant guy,” Trump told Reuters. Musk responded to Trump’s comments on X with a succinct statement: “I am willing to serve.”