Elon Musk’s Criticisms of Biden are Gaining Traction

Elon Musk’s criticisms of President Joe Biden on X, the social media platform he acquired in 2022, have been increasing as the presidential campaign season moves closer to the party conventions and the November election. Musk has been targeting Biden on various issues including his age and immigration policies.

According to an analysis by The New York Times, Musk has posted about Biden on X at least seven times a month since the beginning of the year.

During 2022, Musk posted about Biden only twice in December and remained silent in November. So far this year, Musk has already posted about Biden 40 times, compared to 30 times throughout 2023.

In contrast, Musk has posted more than 20 times about presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, mostly defending him and alleging bias in his legal cases and media critiques.

Musk swiftly reinstated Trump’s X account following the platform’s acquisition. Trump was banned from Twitter following the January 6, 2021, Capitol protests and has since been using his own platform, Truth Social.

While Musk has not publicly endorsed Trump, he has had several interactions with him. In March, Musk and Republican donors met with Trump in Palm Beach, Florida. Musk later stated that he had not made any donations to presidential candidates from either political party.

Unlike Musk, other social media owners like Mark Zuckerberg of Meta (owner of Facebook and Instagram), Satya Nadella of Microsoft, and Sundar Pichai of Google have refrained from posting political content on their platforms.

The Biden campaign, Musk, and X did not respond to The New York Times’ requests for comments.

Despite his increased political activity, Musk is unlikely to influence election outcomes as his followers mostly align with his political views. X has also shifted towards the right since Musk’s ownership.

Although Musk voted for Biden in 2020 and identified as a reluctant Democrat and centrist in 2022, he has not financially supported any national campaigns since 2020. He voted for a Republican for the first time in 2022 and has been advocating for Republican candidates in congressional races.

Musk has also used X to endorse GOP presidential nominee Ron DeSantis and support right-wing politicians in other countries including Argentina, Brazil, and India.