Musk seeks to assist Trump in stopping the Harris momentum

(CNN) — The world’s richest man and a potential future leader aligned on nearly every issue during their recent conversation.

On Monday night, tech mogul Elon Musk opened his X platform to Donald Trump, offering him an unfiltered stage to voice his claims, conspiracy theories, and extreme views as he attempts to counter the rise of Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.

This discussion marked another dramatic twist in a presidential race that has defied expectations with recent events, including an assassination attempt on Trump and President Joe Biden’s abrupt withdrawal from his reelection campaign.

Trump has struggled to address Harris’s rapid ascent as the new Democratic nominee. Throughout their extensive dialogue, Musk appeared to use his influence and platform to guide Trump in presenting a stronger case against Harris.

“She’s a radical leftist,” Trump declared, referring to his Democratic rival who has quickly eroded his lead in the polls. The former president, who previously sought to overturn an election result, unfoundedly claimed that Biden was removed to make room for Harris, calling the situation a “coup.”

Musk concurred with Trump’s assessment of Harris and praised Trump, suggesting that his adversaries are weak. He raised concerns about America's standing on the global stage, implying that enemies might not respect or fear the U.S. president. “Let’s look at the footage of the assassination. Trump is saying, ‘Don’t mess with me,’” Musk remarked.

Having already endorsed Trump, Musk made it clear he supports his bid for a second term. “You are the path to prosperity, and I believe Kamala represents the opposite,” he told Trump.

With his substantial business interests hinging on favorable treatment from the next administration, Musk provided Trump with a substantial audience of at least 1.3 million concurrent listeners at a critical juncture in his campaign, predicting that the content would reach at least 100 million people in the coming days.

Both Trump and Musk had much to gain from the meeting.

During the event, Trump—who had spent months criticizing Biden's age, stutter, and occasional verbal slips—appeared to slur or lisp at times. It was unclear if this was due to an audio issue. When asked for clarification, Trump's campaign spokesman Steven Cheung responded, “Must be your hearing.”

The friendly dialogue between Musk and Trump highlighted the mutual benefits for both parties. Musk sought to impress upon a potential future president his views on key issues like immigration, the economy, deregulation, and tax cuts. With major stakes for his companies, such as SpaceX and Tesla, Musk’s interests could be directly affected by policy changes. The conversation revealed potential conflicts of interest, showcasing how rare it is for an ordinary American to gain such access to a future president.

At one point, Musk even offered to take on a government role—perhaps to help streamline bureaucracy. Trump responded positively, saying he’d “love it” if Musk got involved, praising him as an adept “cutter.”

Trump also benefited significantly from the more than two-hour discussion. Musk refrained from challenging Trump on his inaccuracies and falsehoods, such as his claim that 60 million undocumented migrants would invade the U.S. if he lost in November.

Throughout their talk, Musk downplayed the threat of global warming while defending his electric vehicle ventures. In contrast, Trump warned of “nuclear warming,” suggesting it was a greater threat than global warming, though it was unclear if he meant nuclear power, which Musk argued is “not as scary as people think.”

This interaction exemplifies how social media and the fragmentation of traditional journalism have transformed presidential politics. Trump's rise in 2016 was heavily influenced by his savvy use of Twitter. Eight years later, under Musk’s leadership, X (formerly Twitter) has removed many barriers against falsehoods and conspiracy theories, providing Trump with a platform to bypass traditional media and propagate his alternative reality.

As Trump’s team criticizes media coverage of Harris's candidacy, the ease with which he was able to engage with Musk on X highlights a new era of political communication. In response to concerns about X's potential to amplify harmful content, European Commissioner Thierry Breton urged Musk to address these issues. Cheung’s retort on X, suggesting the EU should “mind their own business,” reflects the strained relations between Trump's team, Musk, and European officials.

After years of steering clear of Twitter and X, Trump lavished praise on Musk.

On Monday night, Trump unleashed a torrent of falsehoods and exaggerations, including misleading claims about migrant numbers, inflation (which has since eased), his legal issues, the current administration’s energy policy, and his repeated assertion that foreign nations are sending prisoners across the southern U.S. border.

Many of Trump’s supporters, whether tuning in live or catching highlights later, are likely to resonate with his statements, underscoring his continued political relevance despite Harris's impact on the race.

At times, Trump presented a more coherent argument for a second term than he has recently, when he seemed disoriented by the shifting dynamics of a race he thought he was set to win against Biden. Trump and Musk criticized the current administration and the vice president for policies they claim have exacerbated inflation.

However, Trump’s frequent digressions and promotion of conspiracy theories also highlighted why many voters are turned off by him and raised doubts about his appeal to suburban and female voters in battleground states.

The session initially seemed to mirror Trump’s past challenges, with delays caused by technical issues. Musk suggested a distributed denial-of-service attack was responsible, though this could not be immediately verified. “There is a lot of opposition to people just hearing what President Trump has to say,” Musk commented.

The Harris campaign quickly responded, sharing a Truth Social post from Trump criticizing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over a problematic Twitter Spaces event with Musk.

The event marked Trump’s return to X (formerly Twitter), from which he had been banned by the platform’s previous owners following the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack. Musk had since restored Trump’s account.

Listeners of the full two-hour conversation would have gained more insight into Musk’s evolving political stance and his increasing willingness to leverage his influence and resources for his views, rather than discovering new revelations about Trump. Nevertheless, Trump expressed deep gratitude for Musk’s support during a challenging political period. “You’re an amazing guy, you’ve done an incredible job. You are a great inspiration to people,” Trump said before signing off.