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Elon Musk, Who Once Queued For 6 Hours To Shake Obama's Hand, Explains Why He's Now Supporting Trump: 'My Track Record Has Been Moderate...'

Benzinga ·  Aug 13 01:50

On Monday, while speaking with Donald Trump, Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk unveiled his political leanings, voicing support for the ex-President.

What Happened: Toward the end of the conversation, which included several topics from the failed assassination attempt to immigration, AI, and electric vehicles, Musk shed light on his political orientation.

The tech billionaire described himself as historically a moderate Democrat, saying that he has not been particularly political in the past.

"They try to paint me as a far-right guy which is absurd because I like to make electric vehicles ... I supported Obama. I stood in line for six hours to shake Obama's hand," he stated.

The Tesla CEO continued by saying, he now believes the U.S. is at a critical juncture and urged those in the moderate camp to support Trump for president.

"For the people out there in the moderate camp, I think you should support Donald Trump for president," he stated, after which the former President thanked him for his support.

Why It Matters: The interview, which was delayed by 44 minutes due to a massive Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack, drew an unprecedented audience of over 1.3 million listeners.

Meanwhile, Musk's political leanings have been a topic of speculation, especially considering his past interactions with political figures.

Last year in April, Musk recalled his only one-on-one meeting with former U.S. President Barack Obama, during which he didn't talk about Tesla or SpaceX.

"The only one one-on-one meeting I ever had with Obama as President I used not to promote Tesla or SpaceX but to encourage AI regulation," he stated at the time.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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