Musk Tweets Support For Scott Again, Appearing To Divert From DeSantis

Topline

Twitter CEO Elon Musk expressed his support for Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.)’s presidential campaign for the second time in less than a week following Scott’s entrance into the race Friday, adding to the mystique surrounding Musk’s nebulous political leanings and speculation about whether he was rethinking his previous plans to support Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for the 2024 GOP nomination.

Electric car maker Tesla CEO Elon Musk looks on among other CEOs before a roundtable during the 6th … [+] edition of the “Choose France” Summit at the Chateau de Versailles, outside Paris on May 15, 2023. (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Key Facts

Musk retweeted a post by Scott on Monday featuring a video of his announcement speech from Charleston captioned “Let’s go!” and on Friday, praised a Scott campaign ad that features him denouncing victimhood and promoting individual responsibility as a “great statement.”

Despite Musk’s new alignment with Scott, in November he answered “yes” when asked by a Twitter user if he would support DeSantis if he jumps into the race.

Musk, who supported former President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign but has also backed Republicans over the years, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), is unlikely to support President Joe Biden, who he has repeatedly feuded with during his time in office.

He’s also disavowed Trump, tweeting in July last year that Trump should “hang up his hat and sail into the sunset.”

Musk has said he would support someone “sensible and centrist” for president in 2024, and though Scott is a self-described conservative, he has cast himself as an optimistic alternative to Trump’s and DeSantis’ divisive rhetoric.

Surprising Fact

Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison poured $30 million into a super PAC that supported Scott’s 2022 midterm re-election bid and is likely to double those contributions to support his presidential bid, sources recently told CNBC. Ellison, who serves on the board of the Musk’s Telsa, Inc., was a major backer in Musk’s Twitter takeover, committing $1 billion in financing to the $44 billion acquisition.

What We Don’t Know

How Musk feels about DeSantis’ war with Disney, which recently sued the state after DeSantis took a number of steps to curb the company’s power following its public opposition to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. Disney also canceled plans to build a $1 billion office park in Orlando last week, a move that was widely viewed as a rebuke on DeSantis. Disney is a major advertiser on Twitter and Musk recently thanked the company, along with Apple, for its business.

Key Background

The only Black Republican in the Senate, Scott is the ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee, broadly opposed to government intervention and recently teamed with Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) to explore bipartisan legislation to recoup compensation from executives at failed banks. Though Scott is described as a “conservative” he is not aligned with the far-right like Trump and DeSantis, who is set to launch his campaign after spearheading a string of right-wing legislative policies as Florida governor. Those policies have reportedly turned off at least one of Musk’s colleagues, tech billionaire Peter Thiel, who has told confidants he won’t donate to any 2024 GOP presidential candidates, citing the party’s culture war obsession, Reuters reported.

What To Watch For

DeSantis is likely to jump into the race Wednesday, when many politicos have speculated he will file formal candidacy paperwork ahead of a major donor meeting he’s set to host in Miami on Thursday. DeSantis must officially declare his candidacy before collecting contributions for his presidential campaign, according to Federal Election Commission rules, which also triggered a 15-day filing deadline after DeSantis moved his political operations from the state capitol offices to a private space in Tallahassee last Monday.