Trump and Musk Find Common Ground on Economy, Immigration, Censorship

Two trending words woke up X users on Monday morning: “HE’S BACK.”

Donald Trump returned to the social media platform in full form after a 3 ½ -year hiatus, a deposed ruler come to reclaim his throne. The occasion? An “unscripted” interview “with no limits on subject matter” hosted by X owner Elon Musk and livestreamed on the former president’s account.

The ensuing conversation  was heavy on personality and sparse on policy. Riddled with technical delays, the audio feed crashed multiple times and remained unavailable until 40 minutes past its advertised start. The interview eventually did get underway and had an impressive 1.3 million listeners at its peak, according to X’s metrics. 

The broadcast was an attempt to inject new life into Trump’s presidential campaign, which has slowed in comparison to Vice President Kamala Harris’ sprint of the past three weeks. Trump did not use the opportunity to discuss his policy agenda, but rather stuck with his tried-and-true messaging: He discussed the dangers of undocumented immigrants, bragged about his relationship with foreign leaders (including dictators Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin) and ridiculed the record of the Biden-Harris administration.

The former president found a sympathetic host in Musk, who has in the span of a few short years gone from tepid to red hot on the matter of a second Trump term.

 “I don’t hate the man,” Musk wrote on what was then Twitter in July 2022, “but it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset.”

Trump may not have seen the post – Twitter barred him from the app in Jan. 2021 following the storming of the U.S. Capitol by inflamed Trump supporters. When Musk acquired the social media juggernaut in Oct. 2022, the tech tycoon reinstated Trump – a statement underlining Musk’s prioritization of free speech, no matter the consequences of the message.

Since then Musk has taken it upon himself to lead the vanguard in the war against censorship. Most recently, he has engaged in a back-and-forth with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer following recent rioting in Britain. Starmer has blamed social media companies for allowing the spread of false claims that the perpetrator of a deadly knife attack was an illegal immigrant. Starmer is deploying police to go after those suspected of using online posts to incite violence.

Former Vice President of Twitter Bruce Daisley wrote in the Guardian that Musk should face “personal sanctions” and perhaps even an “arrest warrant” if it is found that he mobilized rioters via his social media platform, which has 194 million followers.

Musk’s use of X as a political megaphone has drawn similar negative attention to the app. The European Union recently placed restrictions on social media companies under the Digital Services Act that require them to remove “misinformation” from their platforms and has opened an inquiry into whether Musk and X violated the act.

EU Commissioner Thierry Breton sent Musk a letter on Monday threatening Musk that he would face consequences for any “amplification of harmful content” during the livestream with Trump. Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, responded that the letter was “an unprecedented attempt to stretch a law intended to apply in Europe to political activities in the US.”

Musk thinks of himself and his app as “the resistance,” using his platform to amplify the voices of those often silenced on other social media apps for violating posting guidelines. This has made Musk the natural ally of a politician who styles himself as a proud protector of the persecuted.

“They want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedom. They want to silence me because I will never let them silence you,” Trump said in a campaign ad posted to his X account on Monday morning. “They’re not coming after me, they’re coming after you, and I just happen to be standing in their way. And I will never be moving.” 

Trump’s narrative has been strengthened by failed impeachment attempts, myriad congressional investigations, endless civil and criminal charges, and, most recently, an attempt on his life. It was the moment Trump rose after narrowly dodging a would-be assassin’s bullet, face bloodied and fist in the air, that Musk decided to offer his endorsement of the former president.

Since then, Musk co-founded a pro-Trump political action committee, America PAC, and pledged on Monday to donate a “significant amount of money” to Trump’s campaign. Musk has also ramped up attacks on Trump’s adversaries on X, including posting a deepfake video of Kamala Harris discussing Joe Biden’s “senility” that he defended as a parody, even though it was not labeled as satire. 

Musk’s chumminess with Trump was epitomized Monday night as the two men exchanged praises. While they found common ground on the economy, immigration, and censorship, Musk and Trump seemed to agree on one thing above all else: America is in dire need of a second Trump term.

“I think we’re at a fork in the road of destiny, of civilization, and I think we need to take the right path, and I think you’re the right path,” Musk told Trump as the interview concluded.

The world’s richest man is making it no secret: Elon Musk is doing everything in his power to make Trump the world’s most powerful man. Come November, “he’s back” may take on a whole different meaning.