Thanks to his help in his 2024 election win, President Donald Trump has essentially given a blank check to billionaire Elon Musk, owner of the social platform X and the world’s richest man. Now Musk is free to push his dangerous agenda of “reforms,” targeting government departments like the Departmnet of Education and even the likes of the FBI and IRS. All that’s left is a pervading sense of hopelessness as we are subject to his whims.
Musk finished his rapid transformation into a right-wing patriot on the campaign trail for Trump, putting all his resources into ensuring that the former president returned to the White House. This meant giving straight donations to residents of swing states to guarantee their vote and nonstop slamming of the Democratic nominee Kamala Harris on X. For this herculean effort, Trump preemptively gave Musk the authority to run a new department with the groan-worthy name of D.O.G.E, or the Department of Government Efficiency, which aims to cut a reported $2 trillion from government spending.
This appointment is incredibly disingenuous since Musk enjoys a plethora of multi-billion dollar government contracts for his companies, Tesla and SpaceX. Unfortunately for everyone who hates this guy, his influence doesn’t just stop in the U.S. For in about the same amount of time it took him to jump on the MAGA train, he moved on to “MEGA” as he shared on X, in an attempt to try and rally his cult to “Make Europe Great Again” — whatever that means.
Musk’s actions read as an attempt to make Europe a bit more like the current administration wants America to look, based on his endorsement across the European continent. In recent weeks, he has backed AfD, an alt-right party in Germany that has fallen into its share of controversies due to its outlook on some of Germany’s own history from World War II, as well as flat-out meeting with neo-Nazis looking to remove “non-Germans.” As for the UK, Musk has called for the release of a prominent right-wing British politician Tommy Robinson, who was jailed for contempt of court of his libelous claims against a Syrian refugee.
The downward spiral towards right-winged politics shows Musk has no shame. He’s ready to ride this wave of power he’s given for as long as it can hold him up, and with one of the largest social media sites at his back, there’s no telling when that will die down. It’s hard to be a champion of free speech like he claims, when his platform has become an echo chamber for hatred and vitriol for whatever villain of the week that Musk points their attention at as it becomes necessary.
While not as deeply entrenched in the right-winged moshpit, Musk isn’t alone in this either, as just about all of the billionaires people commonly point fingers at for being problematic were at Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
As the likes of Bezos and Zuckerberg continue to bend their knees to Trump, the picture left in front of everyone should be clear as day: America is moving towards an oligarchy that is out of the hands of the people. There is no longer a vetted interest in benefits to the public — because the wealthiest people are fine, so who cares? On top of private citizens benefiting from the re-elected president, Trump’s cabinet picks reached an unprecedented net worth of $340 billion according to The Guardian, and their ability to serve in the best interest of the American public remains uncertain.
It should be abundantly clear now that the next four years will not be dominated by the agenda that MAGA hoped for, but instead one that will benefit those already at the top. All we can do is keep fighting and supporting those who will fight back against this abhorrent abuse of power in all manners, local, state, and federal. And who knows, maybe along the way the MAGA supporters will realize how badly they messed up and join in — but don’t hold your breath.
Illustration credit
Elon photo: “Elon Musk Royal Society (crop2)” by Debbie Rowe is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
This article was first published in the January 29 print edition of the University Times.
