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Elon Musk has decided that running eX-Twitter, Tesla, SpaceX, and The Boring Company is, well, boring. So he has decided to get involved in politics to help Donald Trump. He has already tossed $80 million in the pot and we have 3 more weeks to go. Much of that has gone to a GOTV operation.
In addition, Musk has been promoting crazy conspiracy theories on eX-Twitter that bash Kamala Harris. He has also joined Trump at rallies and is paying people $47 to sign a petition in support of the First and Second Amendments. Back in the old days, billionaires like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet stayed out of politics. Even a billionaire megadonor like Sheldon Adelson, who gave the Republicans big-time money because he liked their position on Israel, didn't interfere with their campaigns. Musk is much more meddlesome, and talks to Trump multiple times a week.
What is Musk's game? Is he aiming for a Cabinet position in a Trump administration? Nobody is saying. Of course, there could be a downside if Trump loses. In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Musk asked Carlson about a possible Trump loss: "How long do you think my prison sentence will be?" Kamala Harris is very unlikely to just throw Musk in prison because he supported Trump, but she could pick a commissioner of the IRS known to favor extremely vigorous auditing of very rich people with the full intention of putting them on trial if they violated any tax laws, as an example. Rich guys like Musk often play fast and loose when they file their taxes, and if the commissioner assigns enough top people to audit Musk, they might find something. In addition, as commander in chief, Kamala Harris would have final say on military contracts. If she wanted to interfere with Pentagon procurement, she could order the top brass to avoid giving any contracts to Musk's companies. The latter move wouldn't be at all unreasonable, not as a punishment for supporting Trump, but instead for the reason that someone who works to undermine democracy shouldn't be rewarded with fat government contracts.
In addition to generously funding Trump, Musk is also pouring money into tight House races. This would not be needed if all he wants is a Cabinet position. He has taken to calling himself Dark MAGA. It is possible that all Musk really wants is a Republican trifecta so Trump can cut taxes for rich people and drop the various investigations of Tesla, etc. that are currently percolating. (V)