Convicted felon and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will be joining world’s richest midlife crisis sufferer Elon Musk on X for a live interview Monday evening, and watchers are almost certainly in for some weirdness.
The exchange between the two unabashed media hounds will mark the first time Trump has appeared on the platform formerly known as Twitter since he was banned from the site just days after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.
The interview is set to take place as an audio-only event. It is unclear whether Musk will be the sole interviewer, or just a part of the event.
Either way, Musk’s recent interviews have been public relations disasters.
He recently sat down with right-wing pseudo-intellectual Jordan Peterson and proceeded to attack his own transgender daughter, Vivian Wilson. The gross display resulted in a scathing public response from Wilson, who said Musk was an absent parent and called him “cruel” and a “serial adulterer,” among other things.
Musk unceremoniously canceled a partnership deal with former CNN host Don Lemon after the two did an interview together, ostensibly to launch Lemon’s show on X. Musk was clearly uncomfortable being asked anything but the softest of softball questions, and abruptly ended the deal.
Lemon is suing Musk and X for fraud and breach of contract.
Since purchasing Twitter in October 2021, Musk has renamed the company, reinstated numerous extremist accounts (including Trump’s), fired nearly three-quarters of the workforce, and increased his political posts exponentially.
According to The Washington Post, Musk’s posts on X that include political content have increased from 2% in 2021 to 17% in 2024. Conversely, posts including content about his companies—Tesla, Twitter, and SpaceX—have dropped. At the same time, Musk is posting five times as many posts as he did in 2021.
Musk’s transformation from liberal environmentalist to full-out right-wing shill has been precipitous. Once a supporter of President Barack Obama, Musk has increasingly recast himself as something of a fascist, banning or obstructing speech he doesn’t like on his social media site while allowing right-wing misinformation to run rampant—and even personally spreading it himself.
In May 2022, Musk announced his support for a red wave on X.
“I support free speech, but not any one candidate. In fact, I gave money to & voted for Hillary & then voted for Biden,” he tweeted. “However, given unprovoked attacks by leading Democrats against me & a very cold shoulder to Tesla & SpaceX, I intend to vote Republican in November.”
When the Republican red wave failed to materialize, Musk announced he would support Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis if he decided to run for president.
“My preference for the 2024 presidency is someone sensible and centrist,” Musk tweeted. “I had hoped that would be the case for the Biden administration, but have been disappointed so far.”
Musk’s track record as a political kingmaker is less than impressive so far. In May 2023, DeSantis decided to make his campaign official with a kick-off event on Twitter that was marred by technical glitches and delays. DeSantis’ campaign proceeded to limp out of the gate and eventually suffer a humiliating demise.
We can only hope for a repeat after Musk’s interview with Trump.
Donate To Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s campaign now!
