2024 US Presidential Elections Megathread

[Barrister]

Her opposition to Trump was on the principle that he couldn't win against Biden.

Having seen what mettle the modern Republicans are made of, I won't bet against here rallying to support Trump.  He might make her VP.

No - as the campaign went on she became much more pointed in her criticism.

[Valmy]

https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-donald-trump-president-campaign-donation-will-he-2024-3

Elon Musk says he's not donating money to Trump. Does that settle it?
Peter Kafka Mar 6, 2024, 11:20 AM CST

News that Elon Musk met with former President Donald Trump on Sunday raised the obvious question: Is Trump, who needs money, going to get some from one of the world's richest men?

Absolutely not, said Musk on Wednesday.

That settles that. Right?

Sure.

Except that Musk is ... not a reliable narrator.

There's a long list of examples, but let's pick a few:

In 2018, Musk said he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private but didn't.

In 2022, Musk said he was acquiring Twitter shares as a "passive" investor — and then bought the whole company.

In 2022, Musk said he wanted to buy Twitter in part to rid it of bots, then tried to get out of the deal to buy Twitter, claiming it had too many bots.

In 2022, Musk sold billions of dollars in Tesla stock to finance his Twitter deal, then announced that he had "No further TSLA sales planned," and then sold billions more in Tesla stock throughout the year.

So. Maybe Musk really isn't going to donate to Trump.

Or maybe Musk really thinks he's not going to donate to Trump but could change his mind. Or maybe Musk thinks he's crafted a clever tweet about "not donating money to either candidate for US President," and what he really means is he's "not donating RIGHT NOW." Or maybe he's going to be extra clever and donate the money to a Trump-related political action committee and then claim that donating to a Trump PAC is different from donating to Trump.

We're all just guessing here.

But while we are here: On Tuesday night, after news of the Trump-Musk meeting broke, Teddy Schleifer, who covers the intersection of Silicon Valley and politics for Puck, said a Musk donation to Trump was unlikely. Musk, Schleifer argued, seems to enjoy giving political candidates the idea that he might donate to them and then not actually doing that.

To hammer the point home, Schleifer noted a 2023 piece he'd written where then-candidate Vivek Ramaswamy's team was convinced that Musk was going to donate to his long-shot campaign. That donation never materialized.

Schleifer's skepticism looks extra smart now — that is, if Musk truly isn't going to back Trump.

That said: Just because Musk didn't want to throw money at a candidate who was never going to be president doesn't mean that he wouldn't give money to a famously transactional guy who is ahead in most presidential polls.

So this may be worth revisiting in the future.

So there it is. Musk will not donate to either Biden or Trump...maybe.

[Barrister]

The thing about Musk - he's not very liquid, as I understand it.

He has a huge net worth from his stock in Tesla and SpaceX.  But he leveraged himself pretty good to buy Twitter/X - which has turned out terribly.

I mean he's not exactly looking in the couch for spare change - but he doesn't have hundreds of millions of dollars to just give to Trump.  Not without selling more stock.

[Josquius]

The thing about Musk - he's not very liquid, as I understand it.

He has a huge net worth from his stock in Tesla and SpaceX.  But he leveraged himself pretty good to buy Twitter/X - which has turned out terribly.

I mean he's not exactly looking in the couch for spare change - but he doesn't have hundreds of millions of dollars to just give to Trump.  Not without selling more stock.

Yeah.
I wish there was a recording of their meeting.
I can imagine this is something trump didn't get and kept trying to weedle cash out of Musk who in turn was trying to look good without spending a penny.

Plus of course it'd be interesting to see them laugh about the nonsense they don't actually believe themselves but recognise as useful.

[Barrister]

Musk seems to be a true believer.

Trump is a bullshitter who will say anything, and then convince himself of it.



Anyways - Mitch McConnell endorses Trump.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

Elon Musk says he's not donating money to Trump. Does that settle it?

And Putin said he wouldn't invade Ukraine (again)... prrffft

[HVC]

Looks like Trump has to find a new Crassus.

[FunkMonk]

Trump as president for the next decade and Musk as a billionaire cheerleader who controls social media... yeah it's over folks.

[Razgovory]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/trump-i-dont-need-anybodys-money/2015/10/19/160176f2-7668-11e5-a5e2-40d6b2ad18dd_video.html

[Tamas]

Can you guys chill? Only 10 out of 45 former presidents failed to win reelection.

[HVC]

Can you guys chill? Only 10 out of 45 former presidents failed to win reelection.

As one of the 10 he has a chance to rectify that

[Grey Fox]

Can you guys chill? Only 10 out of 45 former presidents failed to win reelection.

Be glad you are a ocean away.

[viper37]

Her opposition to Trump was on the principle that he couldn't win against Biden.

Having seen what mettle the modern Republicans are made of, I won't bet against here rallying to support Trump.  He might make her VP.

No - as the campaign went on she became much more pointed in her criticism.

In any case, while not endorsing him, she said "he has to win the hearts and minds of every Republicans".  That's not exactly a rallying cry towards Biden, nor a condemnation of Trump.

I kinda see a woman who likes to keep her options open and avoid the witch hunt.

[Valmy]

Can you guys chill? Only 10 out of 45 former presidents failed to win reelection.

If nothing else the last 8 years have given me a certain zen detachment. I keep up the struggle but I don't get upset anymore. I now know who these people are, in the past I thought they were better than this so it didn't upset me.

[Habbaku]