By Phakamile Hlubi-Majola
At a recent election rally, former US President Donald Trump and the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, made public their bromance. Trump, who is the Republican Party’s presidential candidate, has not always seen eye to eye with the South African-born billionaire. They have shared a fractious relationship that goes back many years.
Elon Musk has in the past been embraced by the left. He was seen as a visionary for clean energy, with his Tesla electric vehicles capturing the imagination of many in America and the world. Musk himself posted on X: “I voted Democrat, because they were (mostly) the kindness party.”
This was a mutually beneficial relationship. A year after Democrat President Barack Obama took office, Tesla received a loan of $465 million to develop Electric Vehicles (EVs). This was part of the Obama government’s attempt to meet the goal of reducing carbon emissions from internal combustion engines, which contribute significantly to the increase of greenhouse gases that drive climate change. Musk went on to launch the Tesla Roadster as the first model of his vehicle line-up, followed by the Model S, both of which were launched to much fanfare. Tesla has since gone on to sell millions of EVs, firmly establishing itself as a leading global EV manufacturer.
By the year 2015, Musk’s empire had grown substantially, directly benefiting from its proximity to the government. According to the LA Times, Musk’s “businesses included Tesla Motors Inc., SolarCity Corp. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, and together have benefited from an estimated $4.9 billion in government support”. And he built these companies with the help of billions in government subsidies.
Thanks to his political connections, which secured billions in state funds to boost his business, South Africa’s first international Tenderpreneur has been able to build a global empire. Musk’s start in business was also aided by the fact that he came from an extremely wealthy family that amassed riches, including an emerald mine, during the dark days of Apartheid. Most self-made billionaires are often already rich, and their families’ wealth makes them even richer.
The concept of a ‘self-made billionaire’ is a myth created by the owners of capital to create the illusion that anyone can claw their way to the top if they work hard and have the courage to take risks. The establishment parades members of the elite before us to propagate the lie that the wealthy 1% attained their obscene wealth through hard work. If hard work were truly the key to amassing mega billions, then black women would be the wealthiest group in South Africa and the globe.
Billionaires like Michael Bloomberg, Bill Gates, and Musk amassed their wealth by avoiding to pay federal income taxes through legal loopholes. In most cases, particularly in the case of Musk, they also get obscenely wealthy from paying low wages and subjecting workers to abusive working conditions. Yet they shamelessly benefit handsomely from the tax dollars generated by working families that fund their corporations.
These pampered, greedy members of the super-rich often complain bitterly about paying taxes while parasitically leeching from the state to increase their profits. To quote well-known academic and political analyst Robert Reich:
“Billionaires are not made by rugged individuals; they are made by policy failures in a system that rewards wealth over work.”
In 2015, ‘self-made’ billionaire property mogul and erstwhile TV show host for the highly-rated The Apprentice, Donald Trump, came down the golden escalator at Trump Tower in New York to make what is now acknowledged as a seismic announcement. Trump declared his candidacy, proclaiming that he would “Make America Great Again” (MAGA), and thus his MAGA movement was born.
MAGA defines itself as American nativist, anti-globalisation, anti-elite, and strongly opposed to immigration. His opponent in the 2016 presidential election was Hillary Clinton, who had served as Obama’s Secretary of State. Musk publicly endorsed Clinton, saying in a CNBC interview that Trump “doesn’t seem to have the sort of character that reflects well on the United States.”
Trump went on to confound the American political establishment, handily defeating Clinton and becoming the 45th president of the U.S. It came as a shock to many on the left when, in the transition period following the election in December 2016, Musk agreed to be part of one of Trump’s business advisory panels, along with other Silicon Valley executives. So began Trump and Musk’s dalliance.
During Trump’s presidency, Musk would go on to quit, re-join, and quit again many of Trump’s advisory panels due to frequent disagreements, particularly Musk’s strong feelings about the Trump administration’s lack of seriousness in addressing climate change. This culminated with the US pulling out of the Paris Accord in 2017, while Musk was serving as one of 18 business leaders on Trump’s Strategic Policy Forum. Musk was also advising the president on the manufacturing jobs initiative and infrastructure spending. After quitting for the last time, the two men’s relationship deteriorated, and they would regularly exchange barbs publicly.
Musk saw Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 election as an opportunity for the Republican Party to reset and move on from the former president, and he said so publicly. Yet, as the world economy reeled from the aftermath of COVID-19, the personal animosity between the two men persisted, though their values began converging.
As Musk seeks to influence US policy, workers face an uncertain future under a potential Trump-Musk regime. Musk's public alignment with Trump is more than a shock; it marks a substantial ideological shift as he undergoes what the internet calls “red-pilling”—an eye-opening experience embraced by conservatives as a revelation of society’s ‘true reality.’ In this case, Musk’s “red-pilling” has transformed him into an advocate for conservative, often misogynistic values, popular in online circles dominated by figures like Andrew Tate and others.
Inevitably, the two men’s objectives converged: Trump seeks re-election, while Musk aims to impose his influence over America's public square, X, shaping the national narrative. Musk’s recent appearance with and endorsement of Trump is, therefore, the culmination of a lengthy ideological journey.
Currently, polling shows the race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris as too close to call. As the owner of X, Musk holds unique power to influence this election, which could be decided by narrow margins. Despite X's decreased influence since its transformation from Twitter, its monthly reach of over 335 million remains formidable. Musk has also offered a million dollars a day to registered voters who sign an online petition supporting the Constitution, seen by critics as ‘vote buying,’ given its focus on hotly contested swing states. Federal law prohibits payments for voter registration.
If Trump wins, Musk could play a central role in shaping US industrial policy, with Trump even naming him as a potential “Secretary of Cost Cutting”. The working class should be wary of a Trump presidency with Musk in a position of power. Together, this anti-union duo may devise new ways to pressure workers. Musk is proud of the draconian measures he implemented at X, which included firing 80% of the staff and pushing employees to sleep at the office to increase productivity. Furthermore, Musk’s companies have faced allegations ranging from sexual harassment and racial discrimination to unfair dismissals and violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act. Trump has also openly praised Musk for firing workers who went on strike.
In South Africa, Musk has gained a reputation for spreading claims on X about a supposed genocide of white farmers by the Black government. Trump similarly tweeted in 2018 that then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo must “closely study South African land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large-scale killing of white farmers”. Musk, who grew up under and benefited from Apartheid, has been embraced by AfriForum, a group often criticised as a local, less violent counterpart to the Ku Klux Klan.
Our own billionaire president Cyril Ramaphosa recently revealed his own bromance with Musk, loosening regulations for Musk’s Starlink should it enter the South African market. This dalliance portends more likely giveaways to Musk, such as a potential subsidy for electric vehicles.
The Trump-Musk bromance is a match made in right-wing heaven. Workers and their families should prepare for an assault on labour rights under a potential Trump presidency. But progressive movements must not fear a Trump return. That moment, if it comes, will be an opportunity to organise with a clear class enemy in sight.
History is filled with authoritarian demagogues who were ultimately brought down by the united power of the working class.
* Phakamile Hlubi-Majola is a Socialist and former journalist. She writes in her personal capacity.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.