Elon Musk says he will back Trump rival Ron
DeSantis in 2024 if he runs for president
Billionaire says he prefers ‘someone sensible and
centrist’ but that he had been disappointed by the Democrats so far
Staff and
agencies
Sat 26 Nov
2022 03.24 GMT
Elon Musk
has said he would support Donald Trump’s arch rival, Ron DeSantis, in 2024 if
the Florida governor were to run for president.
“Yes”, Musk
said in a tweet when asked if he would support DeSantis in 2024, after suggesting
he had not found his ideal candidate among Democrats.
“My
preference for the 2024 presidency is someone sensible and centrist. I had
hoped that would the case for the Biden administration, but have been
disappointed so far,” Musk tweeted.
The
entrepreneur’s remarks are the clearest sign of his political backing after he
indicated in June this year that he was still mulling his Republican preference
for president but that he was “leaning towards” DeSantis.
The move
may prove a boost for DeSantis in what Republicans expect to be a bruising
battle between Trump and DeSantis for presidential nomination, with some
predicting “a lot of blood on the floor” in a fight between the two. The
Florida governor won a landslide in this month’s midterm elections, while Trump
was criticised for the Republicans’ failure to deliver the much-promised “red
wave” after the defeat of key candidates he endorsed.
Musk also
said on Friday night that he was “fine with Trump not tweeting” after having
his account reinstated last weekend. “The important thing is that Twitter
correct a grave mistake in banning his account, despite no violation of the law
or terms of service. Deplatforming a sitting president undermined public trust
in Twitter for half of America.”
Twitter
banned Trump after the January 6 attack last year, saying his posts were
“highly likely to encourage and inspire people to replicate the criminal acts
that took place at the US Capitol”. Trump was also banned from Facebook,
Instagram and YouTube after the riot.
Musk’s
tenure at Twitter has been turbulent, with the owner admitting that Twitter has
suffered a “massive” drop in advertising revenue amid concerns about his plans
for moderating content on the platform, including the fate of banned accounts.
He has told
Twitter employees that “roughly half” of the platform’s revenues need to come
from subscriptions in order to “survive the upcoming economic downturn”.
According to Twitter’s last set of annual results, advertising accounted for
90% of its $5.1bn in revenues.
With Reuters
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