Elon Musk fires back at Donald Trump, tells former US president to ‘hang up his hat’

Billionaire Elon Musk has hit back at former US president Donald Trump, who publicly accused him of being a “bulls*** artist”.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has responded after former US president Donald Trump slammed him for trying to withdraw from his deal to buy Twitter for $64 billion.

Mr Trump publicly criticised Mr Musk, calling him a “bulls*** artist”, at a rally in Alaska over the weekend.

Hitting back on social media, Mr Musk said he thought it was time for Mr Trump to “hang up his hat and sail into the sunset”.

“I don’t hate the man,” he insisted.

“Democrats should also call off the attack. Don’t make it so that Trump’s only way to survive is to regain the presidency.”

Mr Musk was alluding to the activities of the committee investigating the events surrounding the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, in which a mob of Mr Trump’s fans stormed Congress in an attempt to stop the certification of his election defeat to Joe Biden.

The committee has been holding public hearings, and its members have publicly suggested the former president could be guilty of criminal conduct.

I don’t hate the man, but it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset.

Dems should also call off the attack – don’t make it so that Trump’s only way to survive is to regain the Presidency.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2022

A Twitter user asked Mr Musk what issues he had with Mr Trump’s presidency.

“Too much drama,” he replied.

“Do you really want a bull in a China shop situation every single day?”

The billionaire suggested the “legal maximum age” to start a presidential term should be 69, agreeing with another user who said the world had a “serious issue with gerontocracy”. In other words, governments are controlled by elderly people.

Mr Trump is 76, and will be 78 when the next presidential term starts in 2024. By the end of his second term in office, if elected, he would be 82.

Mr Musk said 82 was “too old to be chief executive of anything, let along the United States”.

Mr Biden, meanwhile, is even older. The President is currently 79, and would be 85 by the end of a hypothetical second term.

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Former US president Donald Trump speaking in Alaska. Picture: Patrick Fallon/AFP

Elon Musk. Picture: Patrick Pleul/Getty Images

The Tesla and SpaceX boss added a prediction for the 2024 campaign, saying Mr Biden would be unable to defeat the Republican Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis.

“If DeSantis campaigns against Biden in 2024, then DeSantis will easily win. He doesn’t even need to campaign,” he said.

Mr DeSantis has not yet said whether he intends to run for president. There has been speculation that Mr Trump will announce his candidacy first in an attempt to head off a potential rival.

Mr Musk’s tweets were met with some praise, but many other users encouraged him to “stay out of politics”. Others defended Mr Trump, saying he wasn’t “sailing off anywhere”.

Mr Trump started the tiff on Saturday with his assertion that Mr Musk was a “bulls*** artist”.

“Elon, Elon. he’s not going to buy Twitter,” the former president said, telling his supporters to instead use his own social media platform, Truth Social.

“He’s got himself a mess. I’ve looked at his contract,” Mr Trump continued.

“You know, Elon says he’s never voted Republican. But I didn’t know that, because he told me that he voted for me. So he’s just another bulls*** artist.”

Mr Musk disputed that claim, calling it “not true”.

This story first appeared on Fox News and has been republished with permission.