Musk is in the spotlight again, but his political stances cast a shadow

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Elon Musk returned to the forefront with a car he described as an airplane that he unveiled this week, but his support for US President Donald Trump deprived him of some of the praise that he had previously lavished on the achievements of his technological companies.

Andrew Selepak, a social media specialist at the University of Florida, says that all the things “that we have been promised since the 1950s, such as space travel and flying cars... are being delivered by Musk. But they probably do not attract the necessary attention and admiration.”

In recent weeks, the presence of Musk, the richest man in the world, has been prominent at several stations.

On Thursday evening, he unveiled the “Tesla Roadster,” a model of the famous electric car equipped with propulsion motors that allow it to rise and fall.

It is true that this car will not be put on the market before 2028 and that its industrial model will not be that advanced, but its pictures have been widely spread globally.

On September 28, the Starship rocket, developed by SpaceX, reached space orbit for the first time and deployed 26 satellites for the Starlink Internet network before landing in the Pacific Ocean, which constituted an additional step forward in the project to conquer Mars.

Musk's specter also loomed over the political scene after Ukraine complained of disturbances in the "Starshield" network, which is the military version of "Starlink" and which its armed forces rely on to confront Russian attacks with missiles and drones.

Even the Twitter platform, which turned into X after Musk bought it in 2022, established itself as the largest space for discussing the issue of artificial intelligence.

However, Musk's support for Republican Trump left traces that are difficult to erase, especially in light of the severe cuts that Musk helped approve, which particularly affected public administrations and the US Agency for International Development and eliminated hundreds of thousands of jobs.

"Thomas Edison of modern times"

On "X", Musk's controversial comments on the issue of immigration or far-right controversies are mixed with his statements about rockets, taxi robots from Tesla, and the development of artificial intelligence.

The relationship between Trump and Musk returned to its previous state, after the Republican president had fallen out with him after he withdrew from the government in May 2025.

Last week, Trump awarded Musk with the highest scientific award in the United States, describing him as a “national treasure” and “the Thomas Edison of our time.”

The billionaire has spent at least $276 million to support Republican candidates for the midterm elections scheduled for November 3, as a result of which the Republican Party fears it will lose its majority in Congress.

More than half of the amount, about $158 million, was allocated to Texas, where Musk lives and where polls suggest the Democratic Senate candidate will win over his Republican opponent.

Leftist commentators have come to see Musk as a front for Trump and the billionaires in the technology sector, rather than as a genius working for the benefit of all humanity.

This vision forms the subject of the documentary “Musk,” which is currently showing in American theaters.

His first wife, Justine Musk, told journalist Kara Swisher, “I once said about him that he is able to jump from a hill and create a parachute as he descends. I believe that he feeds off chaos.”

She indicated that she "always proceeds from the principle that there is logic behind this madness," pointing out that many of his showy actions may be nothing but deception and maneuvering.

This equation may apply to his relationship with Washington.

Few businessmen rely on the federal state as much as Musk does.

SpaceX, which floated its shares on the stock exchange in June in the largest IPO in history, reaps billions of dollars every year from its contracts with NASA and the Pentagon, while Tesla's project for self-driving taxis is subject to a green light from the authorities.

From this perspective, the millions provided to the Republicans may be considered more of an investment than a token of political reconciliation.