Views of Elon Musk

For political activities, see Political activities of Elon Musk.

Musk with Emirati politician Mohammad Al Gergawi at the World Government Summit in Dubai in February 2017

Elon Musk is the CEO or owner of multiple companies including Tesla, SpaceX, and X Corp., and has expressed many views on a wide variety of subjects, ranging from politics to science. With his involvement in European politics by supporting far-right political parties, Musk's views and actions have received criticism from some world leaders. Described as libertarian, Musk considered himself as "politically moderate" until 2022. Following the COVID-19 pandemic his views have been described as becoming more right-wing and conservative over time, and are sometimes described as far-right.

Within the context of American politics, Musk supported Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, Hillary Clinton in 2016, Joe Biden in 2020, and Donald Trump in 2024. In 2022, Musk said he would start voting for Republican Party candidates, with him showing support for Vivek Ramaswamy in the 2024 Republican presidential primaries. He has stated support for universal basic income, gun rights, freedom of speech, a tax on carbon emissions and H-1B visas; been a critic of wealth tax, short-selling, government subsidies and Wikipedia; and expressed concern about issues such as artificial intelligence (AI), climate change, and population decline.

An immigrant himself, Musk has been accused of being anti-immigration, and critizes illegal immigration and the alleged crimes committed due to such policies. He has opposed COVID-19 lockdowns and supported the convoy protest in Canada against vaccine mandates, criticised public transportation and transit systems, and rejected labor unions. He has promoted conspiracy theories and made controversial statements that have led to accusations of sexism, antisemitism, support of white pride and transphobia, and disseminating disinformation.

International relations

Musk with then-president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro and then-Minister of Communications Fábio Faria in May 2022

Musk's comments and actions have received criticism from some of the governments and leaders in other countries for his involvement in European politics, including UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer, President of France Emmanuel Macron, Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz, and Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Store.

Bolivia

In July 2020, Musk tweeted, "We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it" in response to a Twitter user who implied that the US government organized a coup (referring to the 2019 Bolivian political crisis) against Evo Morales for Musk to obtain lithium from Bolivia. Musk's tweet caused controversy and was later deleted.

Canada

In January 2022, Musk tweeted "Canadian truckers rule", endorsing the Canada convoy protest, branded as the "Freedom Convoy" by its organizers. Musk tweeted extensively in support of the protest, which began as a denunciation of COVID-19 vaccine mandates for truck drivers crossing the Canada–United States border, but morphed into being against COVID-19 restrictions in general. The following month, apparently supporting the protest, Musk tweeted and later deleted a meme comparing Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler. Trudeau's government had recently invoked the Emergencies Act to cut funding to the convoy protest, which was founded and internationally funded by far-right activists. The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum accused Musk of exploiting the tragedy of the Holocaust, and the American Jewish Committee asked Musk to apologize.

China

Musk has praised China's economic and climate goals and has been described as having a close relationship with the Chinese government, allowing access to its markets for Tesla. After Gigafactory Shanghai produced its first batch of vehicles, Musk thanked the Chinese government and Chinese people while criticizing the United States and its people. In an interview in December 2020, Musk said "My experience with the government of China is that they actually are very responsive to the people, in fact, possibly more responsive to the happiness of people than in the U.S." On the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, Musk praised China's "economic prosperity" and encouraged people to visit China.

In 2022, Musk wrote an article for China Cyberspace, the official publication of Cyberspace Administration of China, advocating for transition to sustainable and clean energy. His appearance in the publication was described by The Verge as conflicting with his advocacy for free speech due to the organization's enforcement of Internet censorship in China. In a conversation with two members of the United States Congress in July 2023, Musk described himself as "kind of pro-China". In April 2024, during a visit to Beijing, Musk described himself as a "huge fan of China." In December 2024, US Representative Rosa DeLauro claimed that Musk had pressured House Republicans to remove a restriction on investment in China from a bipartisan government funding bill. Musk responded that DeLauro was an "aweful person" who "needs to be expelled from Congress." In January 2025, Musk stated that "the current situation where TikTok is allowed to operate in America, but X is not allowed to operate in China, is unbalanced".

Germany

See also: Political activities of Elon Musk § Germany

Tesla has one of its largest factories in Germany, which opened in 2022. In 2023, German politicians including Jan Philip Albrecht claimed Musk was endorsing the Alternative for Germany (AfD) but Musk denied any support for the AfD. In December, 2024, Musk tweeted "Only the AfD can save Germany" and published an opinion piece supporting the AfD in the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag. In January 2025, Musk held an interview on X with AfD leader Alice Weidel, ahead of the federal elections. Musk said that his views were shaped by personal experiences dealing with German regulation and his observations about its political culture. As of 2024, the local AfD opposes Tesla’s expansion plan in Brandenburg. According to The Wall Street Journal, Musk has been "souring" on Germany and its leaders long before December 2024.

Israel–Hamas war

In a YouTube podcast interview in November 2023, Musk criticized Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip during the Israel–Hamas war, saying that Hamas "wanted to commit the worst atrocities that they could in order to provoke the most aggressive response possible from Israel." On November 17, 2023, Musk announced a policy change on the X platform, stating that users who use terms like "decolonization" and "from the river to the sea," or similar expressions that, according to him, imply genocide of the Jewish people in Israel, will be suspended.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Main articles: Starlink in the Russo-Ukrainian War and 2022 Russia–Ukraine peace negotiations

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, Musk published a social media post that read "Hold Strong Ukraine" and "my sympathies to the great people of Russia, who do not want this", after which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Musk. In another post published in March, Musk challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin to a fight.

Musk floated a controversial proposal on Twitter in October 2022, arguing that Ukraine should permanently cede occupied territories (e.g. Crimea) to Russia, and that Ukraine should drop its bid to join NATO. The four-part proposal, posted as a Twitter poll, suggested new referendums under United Nations supervision on the annexation of Russia-occupied territories. The proposal was welcomed by the Russian government and denounced by Zelenskyy as "pro-Russia", with officials noting that people who had been murdered or forcibly deported by Russia would be unable to vote.

According to American foreign affairs specialist Fiona Hill, Musk appeared to be "transmitting a message" for Putin. In Politico's interview with Hill, she said that Musk's suggestion that Kherson and Zaporizhzhia be up for negotiation, and that the water supply for Crimea be secured, was specifically a message to Putin. Musk previously made a similar suggestion at a September event in Aspen, Colorado. Musk has repeatedly expressed concern that a protracted war between Russia and Ukraine could lead to the use of nuclear weapons and the outbreak of World War III. In October 2023, Musk used a meme on X to mock Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. aid being sent to Ukraine.

Taiwan

In October 2022, Musk suggested that Taiwan and China should "figure out a special administrative zone" arrangement as a potential resolution to Cross-strait relations, and the suggestion drew cross-party criticism from Taiwanese lawmakers. Chen Shih-chung commented that Musk had "brought about revolutionary change" and called on Musk to hold himself to the same democratic values regarding Taiwan." Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang thanked Musk for his suggestion.

In May 2023, when asked if he was concerned that China could attempt to take control of Taiwan, Musk remarked that "The official policy of China is that Taiwan should be integrated...". Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu tweeted at Musk in response, and China Daily ran the headline "Elon Musk: Taiwan should be integrated" following the interview. In September 2023, at the All-In Summit in Los Angeles, Musk again stated that Taiwan was part of China likening it to Hawaii, again receiving significant criticism with Foreign Minister Wu tweeting that Taiwan was not for sale, US congressmen Andy Ogles and Randy Weber published an open letter challenging Musk's interpretation of history and his exposure to the CCP. In 2024 Musk praised the quality of Taiwan's engineering talent.

United Kingdom

2024 riots

In August 2024, after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said "large social media companies and those who run them" were contributing to the riots taking place in the country, Musk criticised him for not condemning all participants in the riots and only blaming the far-right. Musk also responded to a tweet which said the riots were due to "mass migration and open borders". His comments were condemned by Starmer's official spokesman.

Musk further criticized Starmer for what he described as a "two-tier" policing system that did not protect all communities in the United Kingdom, and subsequently shared a conspiracy theory that Starmer's government was planning to build detainment camps in the Falkland Islands to hold far-right rioters. In response, Starmer stated his focus was safe communities and the importance of supporting police officers.

National inquiry into 'rape gangs'

In October 2024, Jess Phillips, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, rejected Oldham Council's request for an independent public inquiry into the Oldham child sexual exploitation scandal, favouring a locally-run inquiry instead.

In January 2025, leader of the opposition Kemi Badenoch called for a national inquiry into group-based child sexual exploitation, criticising the Labour government for not supporting a government-led inquiry into Oldham. Subsequently, Musk suggested Phillips was attempting to shield Starmer from blame since he led the Crown Prosecution Service when the abuse occurred. Musk's comments were criticised, and Phillips was defended by a group of victims of gender-based violence, including three survivors of the Telford child sexual exploitation scandal, as well as the Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Starmer, who said politicians and activists were "spreading lies and misinformation" over grooming gangs. Phillips said Musk was spreading "disinformation" that was endangering her, and said that the previous Conservative government, of which Badenoch was a part, had also supported a local inquiry in Oldham.

Musk also suggested Starmer was "complicit" in group-based child sexual exploitation. Starmer said politicians advocating for a second national inquiry were "amplifying" the far-right, and said those "spreading misinformation are not interested in the victims".

Reform UK

In December 2024, The Standard reported that Musk was planning to donate $100 million to Nigel Farage's Reform UK party ahead of the next UK election, aiming to help Farage become Prime Minister, and may route the funds through X's UK branch to bypass donation laws. The following month, Musk called for a new election in the UK, saying "only Reform can save Britain". Musk has called for far-right activist Tommy Robinson be to be released from prison and supports the resignation of Nigel Farage as leader of Reform UK believing "doesn't have what it takes".

Politics

Free speech

Avatar of Elon Musk

Elon Musk

@elonmusk

My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk

November 6, 2022

In 2022, Musk refused to block Russian state media on SpaceX's Starlink satellites in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, calling himself "a free speech absolutist", On April 14, 2022, Musk made an offer to buy Twitter, saying "I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy". Musk identified his definition of free speech as "that which matches the law", advocating that corporate censorship of speech should not go significantly beyond minimum legal requirements, but that lawful censorship requests should be upheld.

Since Musk's acquisition, Twitter has increased its approval of censorship requests by governments. During the 2023 Turkish presidential election, Twitter limited access to content in Turkey. Reports indicated that affected accounts were those critical of incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, including political opponents and journalists. Musk defended this move by stating that the alternative would have been to "throttle [Twitter] in its entirety" and said it was normal for Internet companies to do. Twitter has also censored tweets and blocked accounts that are critical of India's prime minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party, with Musk stating that "Twitter doesn't have a choice but to obey local governments".

According to Musk, Truth Social, the alt-tech platform created by Trump in 2022, exists because "Twitter censored free speech," noting the application's rank in popularity above Twitter and TikTok in the Apple store at the time. In May 2022, Musk called Twitter's decision to ban Trump "morally wrong", announcing he would reverse Trump's ban when after purchasing Twitter. In November 2022, following a Twitter poll which resulted in 51.8% of over 15 million votes in favor of reversing the ban, he unbanned Trump. That same month, Musk tweeted that he was so committed to free speech that he would not ban @ElonJet, a Twitter account that tracked the publicly available real-time flight data of Musk's private plane. Musk reversed his position the following month, banning the account and several journalists who had reported on it, accusing them of doxxing and threatening legal action..

Musk has been accused of trying to silence some critics' speech. In 2021, Tesla reportedly asked the Chinese government to block some social media posts that were critical of Tesla. Twitter has filed strategic lawsuits against public participation for some U.S. critics, and it is facing a speech-related case involving a critic in Germany. Musk has also called for several of his critics to be criminally prosecuted.

Gun rights

In the aftermath of the Uvalde school shooting in 2022, Musk said that he supports strict background checks on all gun purchases and limiting the sale of assault rifles to those living in "high risk" locations with issues such as "gang warfare" and to owners of gun ranges. Believing in a special permit and vigorous vetting, Musk has said that he firmly believes "that the right to bear arms is an important safeguard against potential tyranny of government. Historically, maintaining their power over the people is why those in power did not allow public ownership of guns".

U.S. politics

See also: SpaceX

Musk with Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence in 2020

In 2014, Musk described himself politically as "half Democrat, half Republican" and "somewhere in the middle, socially liberal and fiscally conservative." In 2018, he stated that he was "not a conservative", instead registered independent, and "politically moderate". He stated in 2022 that he had "voted overwhelmingly for Democrats, historically" but intended to vote Republican in an upcoming election, and by 2023, The Financial Times described Musk as libertarian. He said he voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Prompted by the emergence of artificial intelligence, Musk has voiced support for a universal basic income; he additionally backs direct democracy and has stated he thinks the government on Mars will be a direct democracy. He supports targeting an inclusive tax rate of 40%; prefers consumption taxes to income taxes; and supports the estate tax, as the "probability of progeny being equally excellent at capital allocation is not high." In an interview with The Washington Post, Musk stated he was a significant donor Democrats and also gives heavily to Republicans. Musk further stated that political contributions are a requirement in order to have a voice in the United States government.

A 2012 report from the Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan group that tracks government spending, found that since 2002, SpaceX had spent more than $4 million on lobbying the United States Congress and more than $800,000 in political contributions to Democrats and Republicans. As for Musk specifically, the same report said that "SpaceX's campaign to win political support has been systematic and sophisticated," and that "unlike most tech-startups, SpaceX has maintained a significant lobbying presence in Washington almost since day 1." and that "Musk himself has donated roughly $725,000 to various campaigns since 2002. In 2004, he contributed $2,000 to President George W. Bush's reelection campaign, maxing out (over $100,000) to Barack Obama's reelection campaign and donated $5,000 to Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who represents Florida, a state critical to the space industry. [...] All told, Musk and SpaceX gave out roughly $250,000 in the 2012 election cycle." Musk has described the United States as "[inarguably] the greatest country that has ever existed on Earth," describing it as "the greatest force for good of any country that's ever been." Musk believes democracy would not exist any longer if not for the United States, saying that it prevented this disappearance on three occasions through its participation in World War I, World War II, and the Cold War, while believing the country is not perfect and has made many mistakes.

In 2019, Musk tweeted in support of the Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, agreeing that universal basic income, which Yang supports, is "obviously needed". The following year, Musk voiced support for Kanye West's independent run for president. In September 2021, in response to Texas Governor Greg Abbott saying that Musk supported Texas' "social policies", Musk tweeted "In general, I believe government should rarely impose its will upon the people, and, when doing so, should aspire to maximize their cumulative happiness" and "That said, I would prefer to stay out of politics". In May 2022, Musk said that he could "no longer support" the Democrats, saying that "they have become the party of division & hate" and would be voting Republican due to Biden's support for unions and his inability to "get a lot done".

Donald Trump

Before the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States in 2016, Musk criticized Trump by saying: "I feel a bit stronger that he is probably not the right guy. He doesn't seem to have the sort of character that reflects well on the United States." Following Trump's inauguration in January 2017, Musk expressed approval of Trump's choice of Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State and accepted an invitation to participate in two councils advising the president. Musk also criticized Trump's travel ban, regarding "citizens from certain primarily Muslim countries". In June, a few months later, he resigned from both business advisory councils in protest of Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change, stating: "Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world".

When Elon Musk came to the White House asking me for help on all of his many subsidized projects, whether it's electric cars that don't drive long enough, driverless cars that crash, or rocketships to nowhere, without which subsidies he'd be worthless, and telling me how he was a big Trump fan and Republican, I could have said, 'drop to your knees and beg,' and he would have done it.

Donald Trump, July 13 2018

In May 2020, amidst Musk's restarting of Tesla assembly plant production during the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump tweeted in support of Musk, which Musk publicly thanked him for. In July 2022, Trump referred to Musk as a "bullshit artist" and called Musk's contract with Twitter "rotten". Musk responded: it is "time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset" and said that Trump would be "too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America."

Afterwards, Trump stated on Truth Social that Musk had come to the White House requesting help with subsidized projects and that had he been asked to beg, "he would have done it". Trump also said on Truth Social that "Now Elon should focus on getting himself out of the Twitter mess because he could owe $44 billion for something that's perhaps worthless. Also, lots of competition for electric cars!". Afterwards, Musk tweeted "Lmaooo" in response to another Twitter user who posted a screenshot of Trump's comments and responded with a GIF of Grampa Simpson yelling at clouds.

According to Walter Isaacson's biography of Musk that was released in 2023, he apparently did not vote in the 2020 presidential election since he believed that it was a waste of time to vote due to California being an uncontested state. In June 2022, Musk voted for Mayra Flores in a special election, stating it was the first time he ever voted Republican. In November 2022, Musk tweeted that he would support Ron DeSantis in the 2024 United States presidential election if he chose to run. In January 2024, Musk participated in a forum with Bill Ackman and Democratic presidential primary challenger, Representative Dean Phillips. During the forum, after hearing about the various challenges the Democratic Party presented to Phillips's campaign, Musk denounced the process of removing candidates from ballots as being "fundamentally anti-democratic".

2024 presidential election

Avatar of Elon Musk

Elon Musk

@elonmusk

I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery

July 13, 2024

In July 2024, Musk endorsed Donald Trump shortly after the attempted assassination in Pennsylvania. It is reported that he also pledged the commitment of about $45 million a month to a pro-Trump super PAC. Two months later, following another attempted assassination of Trump, Musk received backlash after posting the now deleted tweet: "And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala". In October, at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Musk declared the presidential election crucial for preserving democracy, stating that Donald Trump was the only candidate capable of achieving this. Wearing a black "Make America Great Again" cap, he warned that if Trump lost, it might be the last election, marking his first appearance at a Trump event. Musk positioned Trump as a champion of free speech, accusing Democrats of threatening various rights, including the right to vote.

In December, 2024, The Washington Post reported that Musk had donated $277 million to Trump and allied Republicans, making him the single largest individual political donor in the 2024 election and the largest donor since at least 2010, not counting candidates who funded their own campaigns, according to data from OpenSecrets. The Post described Musk as being referred to by some Republicans as "the Soros of the right".

Association with public office

See also: Department of Government Efficiency

On November 12, 2024, President-elect Donald Trump tapped Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). On November 26, Musk tweeted "Delete CFPB. There are too many duplicative regulatory agencies."

On December 19, 2024, Republican senators Rand Paul and Mike Lee, as well as Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, publicly announced that they are open to supporting Elon Musk to be the next Speaker of the United States House of Representatives in the 2025 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election.

Race and white nationalism

See also: Elon Musk straight-arm gesture controversy

In February 2023, following racist comments from cartoonist Scott Adams in which he described Black people as a hate group and encouraged racial segregation, Musk accused the media of being racist against Whites and Asians. Three months later, Musk attacked George Soros on Twitter after the investor sold a small stake in Tesla, comparing Soros to the Jewish supervillain Magneto. In defence of his post, Musk accused Soros of wanting to "erode the very fabric of civilization". Musk's comment was criticized as being antisemitic by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), noting that Soros had long been the target of conspiracy theories, and by a member of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. He was also defended by a minister of Israeli's Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, who deemed the post as not being antisemitic. Musk later denied being antisemitic and asserted that "I'll say what I want, and if the consequence of that is losing money, so be it." and described himself as a "pro-Semite".

The Artist Formerly Known as Eric Twitter @breakingbaht

Okay.

Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them.

I'm deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest shit now about western Jewish populations coming to the disturbing realization that those hordes of minorities that support flooding their country don't exactly like them too much.

You want truth said to your face, there it is.

Nov 15, 2023

Charles Weber Twitter @CWBOCA

To the cowards hiding behind the anonymity of the internet and posting "Hitler was right":

You got something you want to say? Why dont you say it to our faces…

Nov 15, 2023

In August 2023, Musk criticized the "Kill the Boer" song which was sung by Julius Malema during a rally for the far-left South African party Economic Freedom Fighters. He claimed that the song was a pushing for a White genocide, which was refuted by Malema. A month later, Musk assured Benjamin Netanyahu that he was against antisemitism. Musk discussed the issues online with a panel of right-leaning Jewish leaders including former Israeli president Reuven Rivlin, attorney Alan Dershowitz, who represented Donald Trump in his first impeachment trial as well as several Rabbis including Shmuley Boteach, where Musk denied allegations of antisemitism and cited the suspension of Kanye West as an example of enforcement on his platform. The group also criticized the ADL's criticism of Musk.

In November 2023, Musk posted a response agreeing with an antisemitic tweet accusing Jews of promoting "hatred against whites," writing "You have said the actual truth." Following this, Musk said it was "super messed-up" that white people are not "allowed to be proud of their race." He was condemned by the White House for his post, described as a "hideous lie". Musk later acknowledged the tweet as a mistake, saying "I handed a loaded gun to those who hate me and to those who are antisemitic and for that I am quite sorry" and described his tweet as very foolish. Musk wrote that he doesn't believe that "all Jewish communities" promote dialectical hatred towards white people but said the Anti-Defamation League "unjustly attacks the majority of the West, despite the majority of the West supporting the Jewish people and Israel. This is because they cannot, by their own tenets, criticize the minority groups who are their primary threat. I am deeply offended by ADL's messaging and any other groups who push de facto anti-white racism or anti-Asian racism or racism of any kind." He also tweeted that his criticism of Jews applies to more groups than just the ADL. At the DealBook Summit, journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin questioned Musk about the withdrawal of advertisers from X following his recent posts. Musk said in response, "I hope they stop. Don't advertise" and "If somebody is going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go fuck yourself. Go fuck yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is."

In August 2024, Musk entered controversy after sharing an allegedly Islamophobic meme. He subsequently feuded with First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf, who described him as "one of the most dangerous men on the planet" and a "race baiter" who should be held to account. Musk responded that Yousaf is a racist "scumbag" who "loathes white people". Following rumors of Yousaf considering legal action, Musk dared him.

In January 2025, at a campaign event of German far-right party Alternative for Germany, Elon declared that "There is too much focus on past guilt, and we need to move beyond that". Having faced criticism for a controversial gesture at Trump's inauguration that same week, his comments on past guilt were condemned by the chairman of Israel's official memorial to Holocaust victims.

Women in technology

In October 2021, Musk joked on Twitter that he would start a new university named Texas Institute of Technology and Science, which corresponds to the acronym TITS. Cher Scarlett, a software engineer and one of the leaders of the #AppleToo anti-harassment group at Apple, accused Musk of contributing to a systemic problem where women in technology companies are being sexualized by male colleagues, originating from executives at the top influencing the company culture downwards. Jessica Barraza, a Tesla production associate who filed a lawsuit for sexual harassment incidents, corroborated by The Washington Post, said that Tesla's male-majority workplace culture—described in the lawsuit as resembling an archaic construction site or frat house, with frequent groping on the factory floor—is bred at the top of the company; she cited Musk's "tits" tweet as setting an example for workers at the Tesla factory that is unfair to women who work there.

Transgender issues

See also: Twitter under Elon Musk § Hateful conduct and language regarding transgender people

Musk's views on transgender issues have provoked controversy. He has expressed support for the LGBT community in past interviews, and stated in 2020 that Tesla had achieved an LGBTQ equality score of 100/100 in the Corporate Equality Index for seven straight years.

In July 2020, Musk made headlines when he tweeted "Pronouns suck." The tweet was interpreted by The Independent as a slight to preferred gender pronouns, and was criticized by many, including LGBT advocacy group Human Rights Campaign and Musk's then partner Grimes. In a later tweet, Musk stated that "I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an esthetic nightmare." In December 2022, Musk again mocked preferred gender pronouns in a tweet that read "My Pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci." The Atlantic opined that this tweet revealed Musk as a far-right activist. That same year, Musk's daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, transitioned and changed her name, no longer wishing to be associated with her father. According to Walter Isaacson's biography of Musk, his right-wing political leanings were "partially triggered" by his daughter's transition.

Following Musk's takeover of Twitter – now X – in October 2022, the platform has seen an increase in hate speech toward the LGBT community, for which he has received criticism. In April 2023, Twitter quietly removed a policy prohibiting targeted deadnaming and misgendering of transgender users. In June 2023, Musk deemed the word cisgender a slur, stating that it violated Twitter's conduct policy. That same month, What Is a Woman?, a controversial documentary about transgender issues that was initially flagged by Twitter as hate speech, went viral after Musk personally promoted it and pinned it to his profile. Twitter's head of Trust and Safety resigned following the incident. Musk has expressed opposition to gender-affirming care for minors and has stated he will be "actively lobbying to criminalize" such care.

In January 2024, he further declared that cisgender is a "heterophobic" word, despite the fact that it does not refer to heterosexual people. In July 2024, Musk said that a California law which bars teachers from being required to report a change in a child's gender identity or sexual orientation was the "final straw" in deciding to move the headquarters of SpaceX and Twitter from California to Texas.

Immigration

In the past, Musk has regularly criticized American and European immigration policies. Musk has faced accusations of being "anti-immigration" or distributing false information on immigration, despite being an immigrant himself, and consistently and publicly voicing support for immigration reform and increased and expedited legal immigration. Musk has tried to clarify his views on immigration, stating he is not "anti-immigrant" and actually in favor of increasing legal immigration "for anyone who is talented, hard-working and honest".

Since the inauguration of the Biden administration in 2021, Musk has expressed various disapprovals of its immigration policies, regularly criticizing illegal immigration and the crimes allegedly committed by them. He also blamed the increase in illegal immigration on the alleged goal of "importing voters," which many media outlets deemed false, as foreign nationals cannot vote in national U.S. elections. Musk clarified his view that votes are coming from counting illegal immigrants during census, which shifts the proportion of seats in the House of Representatives toward states with large number of illegals, with such states predominantly voting for Democrats.

In September 2023, he livestreamed a visit to the Texas border with Mexico during a large increase in migrant arrivals. Musk called for improving the immigration system to allow more "hard-working and honest" migrants, while also stopping illegal migrants who are breaking the law. That same month, Musk retweeted a video that showed a non-governmental organization working to assist migrants in the Mediterranean with the caption, "there are currently 8 German NGO ships in the Mediterranean Sea collecting illegal immigrants to be unloaded in Italy. These NGOs are subsidized by the German government. Let's hope AfD wins the elections to stop this European suicide." Musk's retweet bore the caption "Is the German public aware of this?" to which the German Foreign Ministry responded "Yes. And it's called saving lives." Musk responded to the Foreign Ministry with a tweet accusing Germany of violating sovereignty by transporting the illegal immigrants to Italy and the remark "Has invasion vibes".

Musk has defended the use of H-1B visas to attract highly skilled workers to the U.S. Musk had arrived in the U.S. through the H-1B visa. In December 2024, during a period of online discussion on whether H-1B visas should be reformed, he said that Silicon Valley firms need foreign workers (via H-1B) because there aren't enough "super motivated" and "super talented engineers" in America. This was controversial and drew criticism from opponents of immigration who believed that importing foreign workers would negatively impact American workers. Bernie Sanders criticised Musk's stance, viewing it as the importation of cheap labour.

Labor rights

See also: Tesla and unions

Musk has been critical of trade unions. During the 2023 New York Times DealBook Summit, Musk commented that "I disagree with the idea of unions [...] I just don't like anything which creates a lords and peasants sort of thing. [...] Unions naturally try to create negativity in a company." In 2018, Musk tweeted "Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union ... But why pay union dues & give up stock options for nothing?" while the United Auto Workers (UAW) union was campaigning at Tesla's Fremont, California plant.

Science and technology

Artificial intelligence

Musk at UK's AI safety summit at Bletchley Park, November 2023

Musk has frequently spoken about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence, calling it "the most serious threat to the survival of the human race". During a 2014 interview at the MIT AeroAstro Centennial Symposium, Musk described artificial intelligence as humanity's largest existential threat, further stating, "I'm increasingly inclined to think that there should be some regulatory oversight, maybe at the national and international level, just to make sure that we don't do something very foolish." Musk described the creation of AI as "summoning the demon".

Despite this, Musk co-founded and was formerly co-chairman of OpenAI, invested in DeepMind, an AI firm, and Vicarious, a company working to improve machine intelligence. In January 2015, he donated $10 million to the nonprofit Future of Life Institute, an organization focused on challenges posed by advanced technologies, and is an advisor to the organisation. Musk has said that his investments are "not from the standpoint of actually trying to make any investment return... I like to just keep an eye on what's going on with artificial intelligence. I think there is potentially a dangerous outcome there. There have been movies about this, you know, like Terminator. There are some scary outcomes. And we should try to make sure the outcomes are good, not bad."

Musk later criticised OpenAI for becoming closed-sourced and for-profit, and accusing its chatbot ChatGPT of political bias. In March 2023, he signed an open letter calling for a pause on large-scale AI experiments, citing profound risks for society.

Musk's opinions about AI have provoked controversy and have been criticized by experts such as Yann LeCun, who claimed Musk's panic was influenced by reading Nick Bostrom's book Superintelligence, and by Musk's attraction to the idea that he will save humanity. Facebook's head of AI Jerome Pesenti said that Musk "has no idea what he's talking about when he talks about AI." He noted that Musk's comments about a future machine takeover distracts people from real, immediate AI concerns, such as AI algorithms exacerbating inequality. Consequently, according to CNBC, Musk is "not always looked upon favorably" by the AI research community. Mark Zuckerberg has clashed with Musk on the issue and called his AI warnings "pretty irresponsible".

In 2016, when asked whether he thinks humans live in a computer simulation, perhaps controlled by a vast AI, Musk stated that "the odds that we're in 'base reality' is one in billions." Harvard physicist Lisa Randall disputes this and has argued the probability of our living in a simulation is "effectively zero".

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), a Washington, D.C. think-tank, awarded its Annual Luddite Award to "alarmists touting an artificial intelligence apocalypse"; its president, Robert D. Atkinson, complained that Musk and others say AI is the largest existential threat to humanity. Atkinson stated "That's not a very winning message if you want to get AI funding out of Congress to the National Science Foundation." Nature, referring to the award, said that "concerns over AI are not simply fear-mongering" and concluded: "It is crucial that progress in technology is matched by solid, well-funded research to anticipate the scenarios it could bring about ... If that is a Luddite perspective, then so be it."

Public transport

Musk with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Tesla Fremont Factory in 2015

At a Tesla event on the sidelines of the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems in December 2017, Musk stated that:

I think public transport is painful. It sucks. Why do you want to get on something with a lot of other people, that doesn't leave where [sic] you want it to leave, doesn't start where you want it to start, doesn't end where you want it to end? And it doesn't go all the time. [...] It's a pain in the ass. That's why everyone doesn't like it. And there's like a bunch of random strangers, one of who might be a serial killer, OK, great. And so that's why people like individualized transport, that goes where you want, when you want.

Afterwards, he dismissed an audience member's response that public transportation functioned effectively in Japan. His comments sparked widespread criticism from both members of the public and transit experts. Urban planning expert Brent Toderian started the hashtag #GreatThingsThatHappenedonTransit which was widely adopted by Twitter users in order to dispel Musk's notion that everybody hated public transport. Yonah Freemark, an urbanist and journalist specializing in planning and transportation, summarized Musk's views on public transport as "It's terrible. You might be killed. Japanese trains are awful. Individualized transport for everyone! Congestion? Induced demand? Climate change impacts? Unwalkable streets? Who cares!"

Jarrett Walker, a public transport expert, said that "Musk's hatred of sharing space with strangers is a luxury (or pathology) that only the rich can afford", referring to the theory that planning a city around the preferences of a minority yields an outcome that usually does not work for the majority. Musk responded with "You're an idiot", later saying "Sorry ... Meant to say 'sanctimonious idiot'." The exchange received a significant amount of media attention and prompted Nobel laureate Paul Krugman to comment on the controversy, saying that "You're an idiot" is "Elon Musk's idea of a cogent argument".

COVID-19 pandemic

Musk wearing a bandana as a face mask during the COVID-19 pandemic, April 2021

Musk has received criticism over his views on and actions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In early 2020, Musk referred to COVID-19 as a "specific form of the common cold", stated that "the coronavirus panic is dumb", and that the "danger of panic still far exceeds danger of corona imo. If we over-allocate medical resources to corona, it will come at expense of treating other illnesses". Musk has additionally been criticized for tweeting contentious claims on the disease, including that "Kids are essentially immune, but elderly with existing conditions are vulnerable", which he accompanied with a graphic showing that no children had died in Italy by March 15 and for saying "Based on current trends, probably close to zero new cases in US too by end of April." In addition, he promoted articles which suggested that healthcare companies were inflating COVID-19 case numbers for financial reasons and retweeted a video which called for an immediate end to social distancing measures, adding "[d]ocs make good points".

When the Alameda County Sheriff ordered all non-essential businesses to shut down, Musk and Tesla initially refused to comply, arguing that vehicle manufacturing and energy infrastructure are critical sectors, citing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Musk called the lockdown "fascist" on a Tesla earnings call, stating:

So, the extension of the shelter-in-place, and frankly I would call it forcibly imprisoning people in their homes against all their constitutional rights — my opinion — and erasing people's freedoms in ways that are horrible and wrong, and not why people came to America or built this country.

Musk later sent out numerous tweets opposing mandatory lockdowns such as "FREE AMERICA NOW." On May 11, Musk reopened Tesla's Fremont production line in defiance and violation of Alameda County's orders and tweeted that "Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules. I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me." Musk also announced that Tesla would be moving its headquarters to Texas or Nevada and that Tesla had filed a lawsuit against Alameda County challenging its "shutdown" of the Fremont factory; the suit was subsequently withdrawn. The Alameda County Public Health Department explained it was waiting on a plan that Tesla had promised to provide by May 11 that would walk through how it would protect workers' health during the COVID-19 pandemic. An opening date of Monday, May 18 had been penciled in for Tesla, pending approval — the same date that Fiat Chrysler, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors were also due to restart production.

In March 2020, in response to a request to repurpose the Tesla factory to make urgently needed ventilators, Musk promised that Tesla would make ventilators "if there is a shortage". When Nate Silver responded that there was a current shortage, Musk replied, "Ventilators are not difficult, but cannot be produced instantly. Which hospitals have these shortages you speak of right now?" After figures such as New York City mayor Bill de Blasio highlighted their hospitals' ventilator shortage and responded to Musk's offer, Musk said he thought the ventilators which Tesla was working on would probably be unneeded. A week later, Musk tweeted, "We will give away all our ventilators, whether we buy them or build them." He received widespread requests from dignitaries around the world, including the Ukrainian Health minister, Bolivia's Ambassador for Science and Technology to Silicon Valley, and Nigeria's Ministry of Finance. When asked about what they received from Musk, California hospital representatives noted that they received CPAP machines made by ResMed instead and not "full ventilators," though they expressed gratitude nonetheless.

On November 16, 2020, the phrase "Space Karen" began to trend on Twitter after a scientist referred to Musk as such, over comments Musk made questioning the effectiveness of COVID-19 testing and suggested Musk "didn't read up on the test" before complaining. Musk was also accused by virologist Angela Rasmussen of spreading misinformation about the virus. On November 14, he wrote on Twitter that he had "most likely" contracted COVID-19, referring to the virus as "a type of cold". In December 2020, Politico named Musk's prediction that there would be "close to zero new cases" of COVID-19 by April one of "the most audacious, confident and spectacularly incorrect prognostications about the year".

In December 2022, Musk tweeted "My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci", which drew responses from US lawmakers. In February 2023, he praised anti-vaccine comments made by Woody Harrelson during Saturday Night Live.

Patents

Musk has been consistently critical of patents, which according to him "serve merely to stifle progress, entrench the positions of giant corporations and enrich those in the legal profession, rather than the actual inventors." Under Musk's leadership, Tesla, Inc. has opened its patents to being used by competitors under certain conditions.

Space

Musk has long been an advocate for space colonization, especially the colonization of Mars. As early as 2001, Elon became involved with the nonprofit Mars Society and has repeatedly pushed for humanity colonizing Mars because that would make humanity an interplanetary species which would lower the risks of human extinction. In 2002 he left the Mars Society and began focusing on his own initiatives.

He envisioned establishing a direct democracy on Mars, with a system in which more votes would be required to create laws than remove them. Musk has also voiced concerns about human population decline, saying that "Mars has zero human population. We need a lot of people to become a multiplanet civilization."

Social media

In 2024, Musk opposed an Australian plan to fine social media sites which enabled misinformation on their platforms.

In 2024, Musk opposed a plan in Australia to limit social media access for those under 16 with Musk commenting that it "Seems like a backdoor way to control access to the Internet by all Australians."

TikTok

Musk told BBC News in an April 2023 interview that he was against banning TikTok in the United States, although he argued that a ban would increase Twitter's active users.

Wikipedia

In 2019, Musk described his Wikipedia article as "insane" and complained that it was a "war zone with a zillion edits." In 2020, he encouraged his Twitter followers to "trash" the page, which led to the article being locked.

In April 2022, Musk tweeted: "They say history is written by the victors, but not on Wikipedia if the losing party is still alive & has lots of time on their hands!" According to Slate, "many people interpreted this as Musk attacking Martin Eberhard", who at the time was listed on Wikipedia as one of Tesla's two co-founders.

In December 2022, Musk responded to the December 2022 Twitter suspensions Wikipedia entry—once named "Thursday Night Massacre"—by saying, "A two day suspension of maybe 7 accounts for doxxing got an actual Wikipedia page!? Wikipedia is controlled by the MSM [mainstream media] journalists. Can't trust that site anymore." In response, the Wikimedia Foundation changed a message appealing for donations to "Wikipedia is not for sale ... Being a non-profit means there is no danger that someone will buy Wikipedia and turn it into their personal playground", likely referring to Musk's acquisition of Twitter. In October 2023, Musk criticized Wikipedia as "inherently hierarchical and therefore subject to the biases of higher ranking editors." In response to the funding appeal from Jimmy Wales advertising that "Wikipedia is not for Sale", Musk offered $1 billion in funding if Wikipedia changed its name to "Dickipedia". In October 2024, Musk stated the website "is controlled by far-left activists" and discouraged donations to it. Musk characterized Wikipedia as "woke," tweeting: "Wokipedia [sic] has a possibly terminal case of the woke mind virus."

In January 2025, Musk called for Wikipedia to be "defunded" and referred to it as "legacy media propaganda", in response to his Wikipedia article being edited to describe the alleged "Nazi salute" he gave during a speech after the inauguration of Donald Trump. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales responded by saying: "If Elon wanted to help, he’d be encouraging kind and thoughtful intellectual people he agrees with to engage." According to Le Monde and the AFP "While Musk's animosity toward Wikipedia may focus outwardly on the hand gesture, Wikipedia's goal of factual neutrality makes it a natural adversary to X, a platform increasingly synonymous with heated culture wars, hate speech and disinformation. Wikipedia and the media at large – which Musk has increasingly criticized – also pose a threat by holding him accountable as he thrusts himself into the center of US politics."

Streaming services

In February 2022, Musk tweeted a "Pirate Bay–themed" meme post suggesting that "Entertainment is becoming a username/password/2FA nightmare." TorrentFreak has speculated that he may have been disillusioned with the fact that with the abundance of streaming services, subscribers are already constrained with jumping from one streaming service to another, increasing their prospects of consuming illegal downloads as an alternative. While the torrent-oriented blog site has also suggested that this "cryptic criticism" would likely gain support from pirates, it added that Musk "could just be annoyed by the fact that he has to remember multiple usernames and passwords. Or he's just trolling."

Finance

Taxation

In 2021 Musk spoke against a proposed wealth tax but said that in general he supported estate taxes.

Musk is opposed to Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts.

In 2024 Musk called a proposal from the British government to increase estate taxes on farms valued at more than a million pounds "going full Stalin."

Short-selling

Musk, a longtime opponent of short-selling, has repeatedly criticized the practice and argued it should be illegal. He has engaged with short-selling critics via social media and used Tesla merchandise as a means of mocking those who short the Tesla stock. In lighter moments, Musk has openly joked with well-known short-seller David Einhorn using puns on "short" and arranged to sell commemorative short shorts on Tesla's website for $69.42.

Subsidies

On the topic of subsidizing renewable energy, Musk has stated that he does not believe the U.S. government should provide subsidies to companies but should instead use a carbon tax to price in the negative externality of climate change and discourage poor behavior. Musk says that the free market would achieve the best solution, and that producing environmentally unfriendly vehicles should come with its own consequences. Musk has advocated against funding for charging stations in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, maintaining that oil and gas subsidies should also be eliminated.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders accused Musk of hypocrisy for receiving "billions in corporate welfare" before opposing a $2 trillion stimulus package that included provisions for specific companies and interest groups.

Conspiracy theories

In November 2022, Musk shared a tweet with an article from a right-wing fake news website which promoted a conspiracy theory that the attack on Paul Pelosi was the result of a drunken Pelosi fighting with a male prostitute.

In the wake of a mass shooting at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas, on May 6, 2023, Musk baselessly tried to cast doubt on evidence collected by journalists regarding the shooter's political beliefs. Law enforcement officers said in a press conference that the shooter, Mauricio Garcia, had "neo-Nazi ideation", and large Nazi tattoos on his body, including a swastika and the SS lightning bolt logo. Musk doubled down on his denial of the evidence that the shooter was a white supremacist in a CNBC interview on May 16.

In early June 2023, Musk boosted a tweet promoting an antisemitic blood libel conspiracy theory about adrenochrome, frequently invoked as part of QAnon, by replying to it with a cryptic remark about an image of Mel Gibson in the tweet.

In July 2023, Musk commented on Bronny James' cardiac arrest, tweeting "we cannot ascribe everything to the vaccine, but, by the same token, we cannot ascribe nothing."

In November 2023, Musk endorsed a tweet referencing an antisemitic conspiracy theory that "hordes of minorities" are infiltrating Western countries and that Jews are pushing hatred against white people. The White House condemned Musk's endorsement of the tweet as "unacceptable".

In late November 2023, Musk tweeted a meme promoting the widely discredited far-right Pizzagate conspiracy theory, which alleged that the Clintons and Democratic Party leaders ran a secret Satanic child sex ring in a D.C. pizzeria known as Comet Ping Pong. After a few hours, Musk deleted the tweet.

Other

Destiny and religion

In 2008, when asked whether he believed "there was some kind of destiny involved" in humanity's transition to a multi-planetary species, rather than "just physics", Musk responded:

Well, I do. Do I think that there's some sort of master intelligence architecting all of this stuff? I think probably not because then you have to say: "Where does the master intelligence come from?" So it sort of begs the question. So I think really you can explain this with the fundamental laws of physics. You know it's [a] complex phenomenon from simple elements.

In 2013, when asked whether he thought science and religion could co-exist, Musk replied "Probably not."

In 2017, Musk spoke out in opposition to a plan to create a religion around a 'Godhead' artificial intelligence.

Regarding SpaceX's Dragon capsule successfully splash landing into the Gulf of Mexico in 2020, Musk said that "You know, I'm not very religious but I prayed for this one".

In an interview with Christian conservative satirical website The Babylon Bee in December 2021, Musk said that "I agree with the principles that Jesus advocated. There's some great wisdom in the teachings of Jesus, and I agree with those teachings."

In 2023, Musk said that he considered himself "aspirationally Jewish," and noted the influence that his attending a Hebrew preschool had on him.

In 2024, Musk tweeted about Christianity, stating, "I believe in the principles of Christianity like love thy neighbor as thyself (have empathy for all) and turn the other cheek (end the cycle of retribution)". In July 2024, he engaged in a viral two-hour conversation with Jordan Peterson that explored various topics, including the role of Christianity in his life. During the interview, he described himself as a "cultural Christian".

Natalism

Musk holds strong pronatalist views; The Guardian has characterized Musk as "The world's most famous pronatalist." Speaking at The Wall Street Journal's CEO Council session in 2021, Musk stated that a declining birth rate, and consequent population decline, is one of the biggest risks to human civilization. In 2022, Musk argued that "population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming." however his views on population collapse were challenged by demographers.

Musk has asserted that declining birth rates pose an existential threat to humanity and has donated ten million dollars to the University of Texas at Austin to further research on the potential risks. Musk has also argued that "smart" people in particular are not having children, a view which has been criticized as too close to eugenics. Musk has called Kamala Harris an "extinctionist" due to comments about young people being anxious about having kids due to climate change and that "The natural extension of her philosophy would be a de facto holocaust for all of humanity!"