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Elon Musk’s endorsement of former President Donald Trump was meant to buoy the candidate’s possibilities in November. However greater than a month after Musk formally put his weight behind Trump, a collection of Democratic assaults have instructed that the endorsement has uncovered a vulnerability.
For the reason that tech billionaire endorsed Trump on July 13, the marketing campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris has repeatedly attacked Musk for his anti-worker stances. The marketing campaign has known as Musk and Trump “self-obsessed rich guys” and reposted audio from an occasion on Musk’s social media app, X, during which the 2 chuckle collectively about firing striking workers.
Harris allies together with Shawn Fain, the president of the United Auto Staff, have adopted up with assaults of their very own, and now some Democratic strategists look keen to maintain highlighting the Musk-Trump alliance, which they see as reinforcing Trump’s weak factors.
“Each time that Elon Musk tries to do one thing to assist Donald Trump, I believe it fires up the Democratic base to work towards him,” stated Pete Giangreco, a Democratic strategist primarily based in Chicago.
“In case you’ve received a billionaire serving to out somebody who says he’s a billionaire, however actually isn’t, what does that actually get you?” he stated.
Musk didn’t reply to a request for touch upon the Democrats’ assaults or the impression of his endorsement.
Musk’s endorsement was purported to hit the Trump marketing campaign like a lighting bolt. He introduced it the identical day the previous president survived an assassination try. His backing signaled that Trump would have all the cash and social media firepower he wanted to regain the White Home, and it added to a notion that Trump had won over a big share of America’s tech trade and entrepreneur class.
Musk’s endorsement was arguably the most high profile and coveted of this election cycle, given his unprecedented mix of wealth, celeb and media attain.
However the weeks since have been outlined by stumbles and missed alternatives. The 2 males publicly disagreed about how a lot cash Musk would chip in. Musk’s tremendous PAC went via a major staff shake-up quickly after it launched. And plenty of different Massive Tech donors have declined to comply with Musk’s lead, choosing instead to signal onto the Harris marketing campaign.
Then there was the reside one-on-one dialogue on X, which Trump’s marketing campaign billed as “the interview of the century.” Partway via the two-hour occasion, Trump introduced up how a lot he admires Musk’s dealing with of labor unions.
“I take a look at what you do. You stroll in and also you simply say, ‘You wanna stop?’” Trump stated whereas laughing.
“Yeah,” Musk broke in, additionally laughing.
“They go on strike,” Trump continued. “I gained’t point out the identify of the corporate, however they go on strike, and also you say, ‘That’s OK, you’re all gone. You’re all gone, so each considered one of you is gone.’ And you’re the best.”
The Harris marketing campaign rapidly jumped on the alternate with a post on X that has been considered 7.2 million occasions. And it has posted in regards to the alternate at least three times since.
Harris’ marketing campaign added in a statement quickly after the occasion: “Trump’s whole marketing campaign is in service of individuals like Elon Musk and himself — self-obsessed wealthy guys who will promote out the center class and who can’t run a livestream within the yr 2024.” (The occasion was delayed 40 minutes by technical difficulties.)
The episode snowballed. The United Auto Staff union filed unfair labor practice charges towards Musk and Trump, alleging they interfered with staff who could need to train their labor rights. The UAW’s Fain pressed the issue in media interviews. Appearing Labor Secretary Julie Su said at an event on the Democratic Nationwide Conference: “You possibly can’t be pro-Elon Musk and pro-worker.”
Sean O’Brien, common president of the Worldwide Brotherhood of Teamsters, who spoke on the Republican National Convention in July, slammed Trump and Musk’s feedback as “economic terrorism.”
American staff’ proper to strike is guaranteed by the Nationwide Labor Relations Act of 1935.
The criticism of labor unions is more likely to inspire a part of the Democratic base, stated Chuck Coughlin, a Republican-leaning marketing campaign guide.
“If I had been the Harris marketing campaign, I’d lean on that, too,” he stated.
Harris leads Trump by 10 factors amongst individuals who reside in union households, in accordance with a Fox News poll carried out Aug. 9-12.
Brendan Steinhauser, a Republican strategist in Texas, stated Democrats look like pulling from the playbook they utilized in 2012 to defeat Mitt Romney, who additionally appeared to hold a casual attitude towards job cuts.
“They need to make Trump, Elon and folks like them seem like plutocrats,” he stated.
Steinhauser stated there’s a hazard for Republicans that the message might resonate in robust union states like Michigan.
“It will probably land if delivered successfully. I don’t suppose it’s going to land, however it will possibly,” he stated, including that it’s robust for anybody message to interrupt via in a crowded media surroundings.
Musk has an extended file of opposing organized labor and has fought allegations of unlawful anti-worker exercise at his companies Tesla, SpaceX and X. In 2018, he tweeted that unionized Tesla staff would lose inventory choices, which Tesla’s legal professionals stated was protected “employer speech.”
In January, Musk responded to allegations from the Nationwide Labor Relations Board towards SpaceX with a countersuit asking a federal courtroom to declare the NLRB’s system of administrative regulation judges unconstitutional.
Labor union leaders have been harshly critical of Trump’s time in workplace, citing his appointment of conservatives to the NLRB and the federal courts. On the similar time, Trump has sought to keep up some ties to organized labor, inviting some union leaders to the White Home whereas he was president and persevering with to court the Teamsters.
Seth Harris, a former labor coverage adviser to President Joe Biden and a senior fellow on the Burnes Middle for Social Change at Northeastern College, stated he believes Trump desires to be ambiguous with reference to labor unions, a objective that he stated is now far more troublesome.
“Elon Musk created the chance that Donald Trump took to unmask himself as rabidly anti-union, and he did that by praising Elon Musk’s anti-union, union-busting perspective and endorsing the concept of illegally firing hanging staff,” he stated.
Harris, who shouldn’t be associated to Kamala Harris, stated he views Musk’s endorsement as a internet unfavorable.
“Nobody views Elon Musk as a voice of the center class,” he stated. “Musk is a rapacious company overlord who did all the pieces in his energy to destroy organizing efforts at Tesla and likewise at SpaceX.”
David Nasaw, the creator of books on enterprise magnates similar to William Randolph Hearst and Andrew Carnegie, questioned Musk’s capability to sway voters: “Even those that suppose he’s a genius with regard to AI and tech and house journey, that doesn’t translate into presidential campaigns.”
“I’m making an attempt to consider the demographics which are going to be swayed by Musk repeating Trump’s assaults,” he added. “In the event that they don’t imagine Trump, are they going to all of the sudden come to his facet as a result of Musk says he’s proper?”
Nasaw stated he sees a parallel with Hearst, a newspaper and radio baron who tried and didn’t defeat President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936 and 1940 by utilizing his media empire to fire up opposition. Musk confirmed related aspirations in 2022 when he purchased X, and he continuously makes use of the app to assault Harris and Biden.
“When it got here to elections, no person actually trusted Hearst and there was no purpose to belief Hearst. I believe the identical is true with Musk,” he stated.
“As soon as upon a time there was this legion of Musk bros who held on his each phrase — who believed he was not solely a genius however a genius who was devoted to saving the planet,” he stated. “I don’t suppose that’s the case anymore.”
Nasaw stated he believes Musk has develop into “too far on the market” to draw widespread assist, citing Musk’s antisemitic statements and his views about birth rates.
In a March poll by Grinnell College, 47% of respondents stated they’d a good view of him, with 37% having an unfavorable view. For comparability, Taylor Swift in the identical ballot was seen favorably by 52% and unfavorably by 32%. Her potential endorsement within the presidential race is also highly anticipated.
A USA In the present day/Suffolk College ballot in Could ranked Musk because the sixth most influential kingmaker amongst celebrities, simply behind Oprah Winfrey, with 15.2% of respondents saying Musk’s endorsement for president would have “lots” or “a bit” affect on their vote. However the ballot discovered that his affect was largely restricted to Republicans, indicating he could not carry many Democratic-leaning voters into the Trump camp.
Coughlin stated Musk and Trump have related fan bases.
“I see it as drawing from the identical nicely,” he stated.
Each Trump and Musk have discussed the possibility of Musk serving in a second Trump administration, a minimum of in an advisory position.
In recent times, Musk has vacillated not solely on Trump however on whether or not he would endorse a candidate in any respect this election cycle. Musk said in 2022 that Trump shouldn’t search the White Home once more and he continuously describes himself as a former Democrat.
As just lately as March, Musk struck a pose of neutrality within the presidential race.
“Simply to be tremendous clear, I’m not donating cash to both candidate for US President,” he posted on X, three days after meeting Trump over breakfast in Palm Seaside.
Two months after that publish, Musk arrange an excellent PAC, a kind of political motion committee that may elevate limitless money for unbiased political exercise, not coordinated with a candidate. The committee, America PAC, is now working adverts supporting Trump and opposing Harris.
Seth Masket, a College of Denver political science professor who has studied the facility of endorsements, stated the backing of a well-known particular person or media purveyor can typically make a distinction in a major election, as when Winfrey boosted then-Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential marketing campaign together with her endorsement in 2007.
However the proof is skinny for endorsements on the whole elections, particularly in a comparatively polarized period, he stated.
“Even a really well-known particular person’s endorsement shouldn’t be going to alter very many individuals’s minds,” he stated.
Musk’s possession of X provides to his potential affect: He has essentially the most followers on X with greater than 195 million and controls its algorithm, at occasions pushing his own posts higher in the feed. However X stays a a lot smaller app than rivals similar to Instagram, TikTok or YouTube, and its growth has slowed.
“I don’t know what number of people who find themselves undecided on this race are counting on Twitter,” Masket stated, utilizing X’s earlier identify.
If Musk’s endorsement has sway with voters, it’s more likely to be amongst a really particular group, stated Thad Kousser, a political science professor on the College of California San Diego who has studied endorsements.
“There are a lot of folks on this techno-libertarian, young-voter world who aren’t as set of their methods and locked into one get together or one other.” Kousser stated. “They might be up for grabs on this election.”
However as Trump’s ballot numbers have sagged, Musk has proven indicators of firming down his enthusiasm, if not outright indicators of purchaser’s regret. Musk didn’t converse on the Republican Nationwide Conference, regardless of early discussions among Trump and his allies for him to take action.
And on July 22, two days after Trump boasted to a Michigan crowd that Musk “offers me $45 million a month,” Musk stated the figure was not true. He added on X that he would give “at a much lower level.” Thus far, Musk’s identify hasn’t appeared as a donor on public campaign finance disclosures aside from a $10,000 donation to the Utah Republican Occasion, although there’s a lag in reporting.
“If he comes via on these guarantees to donate tons of money, and that money is nicely spent by the Trump marketing campaign, then that would have an impact,” stated Nasaw, the biographer.
“However I see no indicators that, one, he’s going to comply with via and provides the cash he’s promised or, two, that the Trump marketing campaign is organized in such a manner as to utilize that cash,” he stated.
