Elon Musk Puts His Own Politics on Display on Election Day

PHOTO: Elon Musk on Tuesday twitted, “my motivation here is for centrist governance, which matches the interests of most Americans.”

Taniesa L. Sullivan | The Weekly Ledger News

NEW YORK (The New York Times) - Elon Musk put himself and his politics center stage on Twitter on Election Day.

The world’s richest man began his day on Monday the day before the mid-term elections by tweeting to his 115 million followers that they should vote Republican in the midterm elections. Musk said he was not being motivated by criticism that he has faced from Democrats over his $44 billion purchase of Twitter, which he completed last month, along with his other business dealings.

“While it’s true that I’ve been under unfair and misleading attack for some time by leading Democrats, my motivation here is for centrist governance, which matches the interests of most Americans,” Musk said.

His posts about politics and the midterms followed several tweets on Monday when Musk urged his followers to vote Republican because “shared power curbs the worst excesses of both parties.” His remarks were immediately cheered by those on the right and criticized by the left. Musk added later that he was an independent and was open to voting for Democrats in the future.