SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk mentioned on Wednesday that whereas he voted for Democrats up to now, he’ll now vote for Republicans.
“Previously I voted Democrat, as a result of they have been (principally) the kindness occasion. However they’ve turn out to be the occasion of division & hate, so I can now not assist them and can vote Republican,” he tweeted.
“Now, watch their soiled tips marketing campaign in opposition to me unfold,” mentioned Musk, the world’s richest man, who has agreed to purchase Twitter Inc.
The 50-year-old billionaire not too long ago mentioned he would reverse Twitter’s ban on former U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, when he buys the social media platform. He additionally mentioned Twitter is far-left-biased as a result of it’s headquartered in California, a state recognized for its progressive politics.
Tesla’s inventory fell 6.8% on Wednesday, after he introduced his assist for Republicans and Tesla was faraway from a closely-watched sustainable index.
Tweets mocking Elon as being “poor Elon” have been trending on social media platform Twitter, sparking his mom Maye Musk to weigh in together with her personal tweet to defend her son.
“Poor Elon may solely be the 2nd or third richest man on this planet now,” one twitter person mentioned.
“Poor Elon. No liberals are going to purchase his automobiles anymore, when there’s so many nicer choices,” one other mentioned.
Musk’s mom criticized some tweets for “nasty feedback” and alleged they have been “troll or bot”, referring to pretend accounts.
Musk has been a vocal critic of the Biden administration and Democrats for his or her proposals to tax billionaires and provides extra tax incentives to union-made electrical automobiles. Tesla doesn’t have unions at its U.S. factories.
Final 12 months, Tesla, which counts California as its greatest market in the USA, moved its headquarters from California to the extra politically conservative Texas.
Musk moved his private residence from California to Texas, the place there isn’t a state revenue tax. He has bought about $25 billion value of Tesla inventory since final 12 months with the intention to pay taxes and finance his proposed acquisition of Twitter. Analysts mentioned the gross sales helped him money in on Tesla’s inventory rally and diversify his wealth.
Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin in San FranciscoEditing by Matthew Lewis and Richard Pullin
