Elon Musk backs Rep. Kevin McCarthy for speaker amid Twitter and Tesla woes
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Embattled Twitter boss Elon Musk backed Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in his chaotic bid for speaker of the House, an endorsement that is likely to produce more chuckles than votes given the billionaire tech mogul’s recent troubles.
The troubled tech titan said Republican lawmakers should elect McCarthy in a predawn tweet Thursday as the California lawmaker struggles to win over a band of implacable foes.
Musk, who has veered deeply into far right-wing GOP politics in recent months, was quickly hit with a barrage of sniping from across the political spectrum.
Some liberals pointed out that Musk failed to cast his ballot in the recent midterm elections after urging Americans to vote for Republicans.
Others said the owner of an influential social media platform like Twitter should stay out of partisan political squabbles.
Far-right conservatives and supporters of former President Donald Trump also trashed Musk for siding with the establishment pick of McCarthy, whom they blame for perpetuating the inside-the-Beltway status quo.
The mercurial Musk has recently become a major force in right-wing culture wars, backing outlandish conspiracy theories about presidential son Hunter Biden, the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, and pandemic doctor Anthony Fauci.
The GOP repaid Musk’s endorsement with a tweet heralding “Elon, Kanye and Trump,” a reference to Musk and troubled onetime rap star Kanye West, who has spewed anti-Semitic hatred.
The world’s reputed richest man recently bought Twitter after being forced to close the purchase at what financial analysts say is a highly inflated price of about $44 billion.
Shares in his electric carmaker Tesla have plunged as investors question his ability to manage the companies and the disastrous impact of alienating tens of millions of potential customers by taking controversial extremist political stances.
He vowed to respect a Twitter poll that called on him to step down as Twitter CEO but gave no timeframe for any new hire.
