World’s richest man Elon Musk’s announces surprising political reveal on Twitter

Eccentric billionaire Elon Musk has once again made global headlines, after taking to Twitter to reveal a political bombshell.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has taken to social media to reveal he had switched his allegiance to the Republican Party, slamming the Democrats as the party of “division and hate”.

The world’s richest man made the announcement on Twitter on Wednesday, declaring that while he had previously supported the Democrats, including former US President Barack Obama, he was now changing sides.

“In the past I voted Democrat, because they were (mostly) the kindness party,” he tweeted.

“But they have become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican.

“Now, watch their dirty tricks campaign again against me unfold …”

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Elon Musk previously voted for the Democrats. Picture: Brendan Smialowski/AFP

The tweet immediately went viral, attracting more than 75,000 retweets and over 200,000 likes in just one hour.

Just days earlier, Musk had also made similar statements during a podcast recording at he All In Summit in Miami.

“I would classify myself as a moderate, neither Republican or Democrat,” Musk said on Monday.

“In fact, I have voted overwhelmingly for Democrats historically. Overwhelmingly.

“I might never have voted Republican. Now, this election? I will”, he said, before giving reasons for his change of heart.

“The Democratic party is overly controlled by the unions and the trial lawyers, particularly the class-action lawyers,” he explained.

Musk’s announcement also comes after months of criticism directed at President Joe Biden, as well as other Democrat colleagues including Senator Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

In the past I voted Democrat, because they were (mostly) the kindness party.

But they have become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican.

Now, watch their dirty tricks campaign against me unfold … 🍿

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 18, 2022

Musk has also become increasingly vocal about his opposition to several Democratic policies, including a billionaire’s tax, and he has also long been a critic of the union movement.

Meanwhile, over the years, both Musk and his major companies, Tesla and SpaceX, have sought to influence politics via donations to both parties, and through extensive lobbying.

Twitter takeover

The latest comments comes amid ongoing concerns over Musk’s plan to buy Twitter.

The billionaire claims he’s on a mission to make Twitter a defender of free speech, tweeting on April 27 that: “For Twitter to deserve public trust, it must be politically neutral, which effectively means upsetting the far right and the far left equally.”

He has also vowed to make the eradication of spam accounts and bots one of the centrepieces of his proposed $A64 billion takeover of the social media giant.

However, the deal may have hit a snag, with Musk announcing last week it had been put “on hold”, claiming the company had failed to prove its claim that fake accounts made up less than 5 per cent of users – sending its share price plummeting.

Musk plans to welcome Donald Trump back to Twitter. Pictures: Nicholas Kamm and Brendan Smialowski/AFP

Meanwhile, Musk’s plan to buy Twitter has proved controversial from day one, with Musk announcing earlier this month that if the buyout was successful, he planned to welcome former US President Donald Trump back to the platform, after he was banned in the wake of the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection.

“I think that was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the country, and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice,” Mr Musk said.

“Permanent bans should be extremely rare and really reserved for accounts that are bots, or scam, spam accounts … I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump.

“I don’t own Twitter yet. So this is not like a thing that will definitely happen, because what if I don’t own Twitter?”