On A Scale From One To Ten, How Much Do You Trust Elon Musk? (Yes, "Zero" Is A Permissible Answer)

Musk, Lying Again, Says He's Withdrawing From Political Giving

Over the years, Elon Musk has consistently lied about his involvement with politics and political contributions. He has always tried to hide his extreme right perspective— and agenda— and always tried to hide that he was financing fascist-aligned forces here in the U.S. and overseas. Though he had already spent over $800,000 on political contributions, in a 2015 interview, Musk said he was “involved in politics as little as possible” due to his business interests. At the same time his companies were were spending millions on lobbying. And between 2008 and 2013, he traveled to Washington, D.C. at least 40 times In 2021, Musk claimed he preferred to stay out of politics but the following year it came out that he spent $50 million on far right PACs, while claiming to be a moderate and insisting that he was politically neutral. In 2022 he announced he would no longer support Democrats and began voting Republican, citing dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party’s direction. He also purchased Twitter that year and reinstated accounts, including Trump’s, that had been banned for violating rules, actions seen as aligning with right-wing interests. Additionally, he created the pro-Trump America PAC, investing $75 million to support Trump’s 2024 campaign, directly contradicting his “ but-I’m-a-moderate” lies.

Yesterday, Eliot Brown reported his latest claims about his relation to politics, namely that he’s cutting back on his spending. “‘In terms of political spending, I’m going to do a lot less in the future,’ he said in a video interview at the Qatar Economic Forum. ‘I think I’ve done enough. If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it,’ he said. ‘I do not currently see a reason.’”

Musk bought a role in the Trump regime (DOGE) by spending at least a third of a billion dollars electing Trump and his allies and has disabled all the government agencies that were investigating his companies and pushing forward his reactionary agenda across the entire government. His most recent foray into far right U.S. politics— “pouring more than $23 million into a Wisconsin state Supreme Court race to boost a Republican-backed candidate’— failed miserably.

This new claim is completely undermined by his well-documented history of lying about his political engagement. His repeated claims of minimal political involvement or neutrality have always been inconsistent with his actions and his ownership of Twitter has continued to amplify his ability to shape political narratives, contradicting assertions of staying apolitical, establishing a pattern where he publicly downplays his political role while actively engaging in ways that align with his business interests and far right agenda.

He has been loud in threatening to primary progressive Democrats on behalf on conservative Democrats and even louder in threatening to finance primary challenges against Republicans who refuse to toe the Trumpist line. Since 2008 his political activity only became more calculated, more covert, and more dangerous. Behind the scenes he was cultivating and financing deep ties with reactionary forces across the globe.

In Brazil, Musk inserted himself directly into the country’s political crisis, backing the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro. Through his control of Twitter, he actively worked to undermine Brazil’s judiciary and amplify conspiracies tied to Bolsonaro’s authoritarian movement. After the Brazilian Supreme Court began investigating the spread of disinformation and attacks on democratic institutions, Musk not only refused to comply with court orders— he openly defied them, vowing to reinstate banned far-right accounts and threatening to shut down operations in the country. It was an open alliance with a movement that had attempted a coup just months earlier.

Like here, in Germany, Twitter has become a haven for neo-Nazis and far-right extremists, despite the country’s strict laws against Holocaust denial and hate speech. In India, Musk's interests have aligned neatly with the Modi regime, whose Hindu nationalist government has both benefited from and shielded Musk’s business ventures. Across multiple continents, Musk’s pattern is clear: enabling authoritarian movements, undermining democratic institutions, and using his platforms and resources to launder far-right ideology through the language of “free speech.”

Despite his flimsy protestations, back here, we should expect more of the same. Musk is not just some wealthy eccentric; he’s a committed ideological actor with the power to shape the information ecosystem, steer the culture war, and bankroll extremist candidates and causes. His takeover of Twitter has already turned a once-messy social media platform into a centralized hub of right-wing propaganda, conspiracy, and stochastic terrorism. He’s made it clear he will use his influence to promote anti-democratic narratives, undermine the press and scapegoat marginalized communities— especially trans people, immigrants and Black organizers.

Musk’s ambitions are not limited to tech or even politics. What he seems to want is a total remaking of society in the image of the billionaire tech-caste: a world where inequality is permanent, where labor is disposable, where democracy is gutted, and where truth itself is owned and curated by the ultra-rich. And he’s not shy about using every tool— from social media algorithms to rocket launches to backroom political deals— to get there.