CNN: Billionaire Elon Musk turns X platform into a machine to support former President Trump

Billionaire Elon Musk has used social network X as a source of news for hundreds of millions of users, in an attempt to turn the US presidential election in favor of Donald Trump.

Turn X into a political campaign machine for Mr. Trump

According to CNN, billionaire Elon Musk - the owner of the X platform (formerly Twitter) and also the person with the largest number of followers on this social network, has shifted from criticizing President Joe Biden to directly campaigning for former US President Donald Trump. This is considered an important move for one of the leaders of a social network that has a great influence on the global public.

Mr. Musk is taking full advantage of the power of social network X to campaign for Mr. Trump (Graphic: X).

Social media platforms have played a key role in many previous presidential campaigns. Presidential candidates often use social media to gain support from voters. Meanwhile, foreign actors through social media will try to interfere with the election results. Although some tech leaders have publicly announced their favorite candidates in the race for the White House, large tech platforms and their leaders often do not openly influence how voters choose who they will vote for. Meanwhile, according to CNN, Mr. Musk is doing the exact opposite, turning social network X into his own political messaging machine, thereby influencing more than 190 million followers. Billionaire Musk officially endorsed Mr. Trump in a post last month. This post received 2.3 million likes. Most recently, on August 12, billionaire Musk invited Mr. Trump to join him in a live broadcast for more than 2 hours on X, in which Mr. Trump made at least 20 false statements about many different issues. The former US President also took advantage of this exchange to raise funds. Right before the event, Mr. Trump's campaign team posted on X saying: "We expect you to make this exchange the biggest fundraising day for Mr. Trump." Also in the exchange, billionaire Musk shared a lot of information that was considered false about Mr. Trump's opponent - Vice President Kamala Harris, expressed skepticism about the US election system and spread false information that people without legal documents can still participate in the election. According to the Center for Countering Hate on Digital Platforms, Mr. Musk's statements about the US election on social network X received up to 1.2 billion views. Wendy Weiser, vice president of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, said that information disseminated by prominent figures can be extremely damaging. "Mr. Musk has a social media platform, financial resources, reputation, and a huge toolkit to deploy to spread misinformation and conspiracy theories," CNN quoted Weiser as criticizing.

The real goal that Mr. Musk is aiming for

For billionaire Musk, the privilege of being able to interact closely with Mr. Trump if the former US President is elected will give the CEO of Tesla and X more power globally. This is also very useful for the business activities of the "Musk empire" which relies heavily on lucrative contracts and preferential policies of the US Government.

Mr. Trump's victory in the upcoming presidential election will be the best launching pad for billionaire Musk's business career (Photo: Getty Images).

In an interview that took place on the night of August 12, CNN reported that Mr. Musk had publicly expressed his desire to play a role in controlling spending in the new Trump administration. "I think it would be great if the US government had an effective committee to oversee those activities and make sure that taxpayers' money is spent properly. I would be happy to participate in supporting that committee," Mr. Musk shared. In response, Mr. Trump affirmed that he welcomed Mr. Musk's participation and praised billionaire Musk as a great spender, citing the strong cuts Mr. Musk made at the companies he owned. Previously, in May, the Wall Street Journal reported that Mr. Musk intended to become an advisor to Mr. Trump if he were re-elected. However, at that time, Mr. Brian Hughes, a spokesman for Mr. Trump's campaign, affirmed that the former US President had the sole say in who was chosen for which position if he were re-elected. Mr. Musk himself also stated that there had been no discussion about his role in the Trump administration in case Mr. Trump became the US President in the November 2024 election. Notably, Mr. Musk previously participated in the Business Advisory Council during the first term of US President Donald Trump and only withdrew after Mr. Trump decided not to continue participating in the Paris Agreement on climate change. The reunion between former President Trump and Mr. Musk is raising concerns about the possibility of conflicts of interest because the growth of two of Mr. Musk's largest businesses, SpaceX and Tesla, depends heavily on the US government's policies on energy and electric vehicles... In addition, Mr. Musk's companies are under investigation by the State Securities Commission, the Department of Justice, the National Transportation Safety Board... and can completely receive unlimited immunity from Mr. Trump if he becomes the US President after the election in November. “For Mr. Musk to be able to communicate directly and privately with Mr. Trump in the event of his re-election would be a clear conflict of interest,” said Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

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