Elon Musk’s Contradictions; ‘The Uncertain Route of Trump’s America’

The world is talking about American businessman Elon Musk’s open support for political movements considered “extremist” in the U.S. and several other countries, particularly in Europe. Most recently, Musk joined a rally of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party via video conference, reaffirming his support for AfD and its leader through his social media platform, X.

In the November 2024 U.S. presidential election, Elon Musk backed Donald Trump, who was once again seen as an “extremist.” He mobilized both his X platform and his financial power as the world’s richest person in support of Trump. He didn’t stop there; as the election neared, he actively campaigned, organizing rallies. Following Trump’s victory, Musk was announced as co-chair of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency under the Trump administration.

While playing a central role in the U.S. election process and its aftermath, Musk also found himself in a heated confrontation with the British government. The UK’s measures to restrict anti-immigrant social media posts containing hate speech and discrimination, as well as launching investigations and arrests for criminal content, directly pulled Musk and X into the debate.

Musk positions himself as an unwavering defender of absolute free speech. He argues that traditional media restricts freedom of expression based on the demands of power centers, preventing people from accessing accurate information. He claims to offer X as a platform for free speech, truth, and real information. In some respects, he deserves credit for this claim. After acquiring X, he reinstated numerous accounts that had been shut down or suspended under the previous management due to U.S. government requests and internal policies—Trump’s account being one of the most notable. Similarly, X played a major role in broadcasting war crimes and human rights violations in Gaza to the global public. While other platforms immediately succumbed to Israeli propaganda, X resisted, at least for a while, and despite subsequent restrictions, continued to amplify voices from Gaza.

Born to a British-origin family in South Africa before later settling in the U.S., Musk describes himself as a “cultural Christian.” However, following backlash over his early criticism of Israel’s attacks on Gaza, he mentioned attending a Jewish school as a child. Though his political stances and endorsements lean conservative, it is difficult to categorize him definitively. He supports and advocates for Western civilization’s values and lifestyle, to the extent that he envisions exporting them to Mars to establish humanity as a multi-planetary species.

In challenging the status quo on issues like birth rates, gender, climate change, and environmental policies, Musk champions free speech. Yet, at the same time, he reinforces some of the deep-seated, outdated, and problematic narratives of the West.

Musk’s prominence isn’t just due to his support for Trump and certain far-right European leaders or his ownership of X. His companies–SpaceX, Neuralink, Tesla Motors, and The Boring Company–contribute significantly to his influence and wealth. He has emerged as the new symbol of America’s digital revolution, akin to Bill Gates and Steve Jobs in the 1990s.

The industries Musk’s companies operate in–space technology, medical technology, electric and autonomous vehicles, high-speed satellite internet, and underground tunnel systems for metropolitan transportation–place them in an almost unrivaled position. While these technologies expand his personal wealth and power, they also bolster the U.S.’s weakening global dominance, particularly against China and BRICS nations.

And Musk isn’t stopping there. In 2024, he invested billions in artificial intelligence, quickly establishing facilities expected to outpace competitors. By combining his enormous financial power with political clout through his support for Trump, Musk is intervening in the political landscapes of various countries, especially in Europe, with what could be described as a reckless approach. His potential role in the cryptocurrency market alongside Trump is likely to further increase his influence.

Musk’s ability to single-handedly impact global financial markets makes him both a formidable adversary for his opponents and an attractive figure for his supporters. This suggests that the world may be transitioning into a new economic order.

What’s interesting is that while amassing this power, Musk also opposes globalist figures like George Soros and Bill Gates, who traditionally represent U.S. technological and financial dominance. While he openly attacks initiatives led by their foundations, he simultaneously intervenes in other nations’ digital policies, immigration strategies, and even political processes, including elections–one of his biggest contradictions.

In essence, Musk’s message to the U.S. and other Western nations seems to be: “Be yourselves, stop being ashamed of your past, embrace the great civilization you’ve built. Reject the movement that Gates and Soros represent–the so-called ‘woke mind ideology’ that targets population growth, family values, masculinity, and femininity.” At first glance, this rhetoric may appear to challenge globalist hegemony, but what it truly entails remains uncertain.

There’s no reason to believe that the economic and technological movement Musk leads won’t merge with U.S. military power to create a new system of exploitation.

Neo-Orientalism and Islamophobia

The West is facing a population decline. Access to the world’s natural resources is no longer as easy as before. New rivals are emerging, both militarily and economically. Those who were once distant “others” are now forming significant population groups in Western metropolises.

This is where Musk’s rhetoric and the West’s colonial habits come in handy. This discourse redefines everything associated with progress, development, and civilization from a Western-centric perspective, classifying everyone else as irredeemable barbarians. Crime statistics, sexual assault scandals, and other incidents involving migrants–particularly those from Muslim countries–are widely disseminated in the media, reinforcing exclusionary and often hateful narratives at the societal level.

Migrants are the easiest scapegoats. Among them, Muslim migrants are the most vulnerable target. In the Western imagination, Muslims are still associated with 9/11, Al-Qaeda, and ISIS. This is why Musk appears to be directing his battle against the Western establishment through an anti-immigrant stance–particularly against migrants from Muslim-majority countries. A significant portion of the content Musk shares, endorses, or amplifies on X links rising crime rates to immigrants. The child abuse scandal in the UK, allegedly tied to gangs of Pakistani origin, was exploited both by Musk himself and by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim factions across Europe.

Musk, a figure followed with admiration, astonishment, anxiety, fear, and bewilderment by the world, has–whether knowingly or not–become one of the leading voices of neo-Orientalist perspectives and xenophobia. While Musk and his followers see him as a “superhero” who will rescue humanity from crisis, his rhetoric bears striking similarities to colonialist discourse still fresh in humanity’s memory.

Will Musk change his tone and stance after Trump takes office on January 20? We will see. Over the next four years, how he positions himself will unfold in real time. However, one thing is clear: endorsing the West’s deep-rooted and problematic narratives as short-term tools benefits no one.