Elon Musk is now clearly articulating what many of us have understood for a while now — his family conflict over a trans child, and his own transphobia and lack of belief in gender-affirming care, are the main triggers that have pushed him into the pro-Trump camp.
Musk gave an intreview this week to right-wing site the Daily Wire — home to pundit Ben Shapiro, who already has a breathless takedown podcast series called "Scamala" about Kamala Harris and her journey into politics — in which he spells out his rage against the "woke mind virus," and how he was allegedly tricked into approving hormone blockers for his 20-year-old trans daughter, whom he deadnames in the podcast and refers to as his son.
That adult child's agency and happiness notwithstanding, Musk rails against gender-affirming care in the conversation with Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, himself a vocal opponent of gender-affirming care. (Peterson penned an opinion piece for the NY Post last fall complaining that he was being "professionally cancelled" due to his "moral stance on trans butchery.")
"I lost my son, essentially," Musk says in the interview. "They call it ‘deadnaming’ for a reason. The reason they call it ‘deadnaming’ is because your son is dead."
He further says that his daughter, who has legally changed her name to Vivian Jenna Wilson and stated she wants nothing to do with her billionaire father, was "killed by the woke mind virus," and his various obvious campaign to promote right-wing and alt-right ideas in the last three years all stems from this.
"I vowed to destroy the woke mind virus after that. And we’re making some progress," he says.
Where does he think this "progress" is happening? In his echo chamber on Xitter? All because they don't have much content moderation anymore?
Musk has perhaps never had a particularly partisan mindset, but he claims in this interview that he used to believe that the Democratic party represented "meritocracy, personal freedom and free speech." And, somehow, perhaps through the alchemy of Trump and his rabid followers online, he has come around to the idea that Republicans are now the sole protectors of these things. Because: woke mind virus.
He also really hates DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) policies, which he says are "another form of racism and sexism" — adopting the common right-wing refrain that liberals' fight against racism is itself racist. Racist against white people.
Could the ghost of Musk's virulently racist South African grandfather be speaking through him these days? Is he just a confused and stubborn parent of a trans child who happens to be the richest man on earth and in control of a major social media platform?
Also, interestingly, Musk denies that he has pledged $45 million per month to a pro-Trump super PAC, however he admits to helping launch the PAC.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week on the monetary pledge to helping elect Trump shortly before Musk told the world that he was moving Xitter headquarters out of the state to Texas, all due to a policy backed by Governor Gavin Newsom aimed at protecting trans youth.
Misconstruing that policy in the way of breathless tweeters, Musk suggested that the policy would lead to the state taking away people's children. The law simply bans school districts from enacting policies — as some have done — of "outing" children to their parents if they ask to use new pronouns at school. Advocates say that a small segment of children find safer spaces to express their gender identities at school, and could face dangers at home if they were found out by intolerant parents or siblings.
And where does that much of that angry intolerance come from? The MAGA mind virus.
Photo: Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X Holdings Corp., speaks at the Milken Institute's Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel,on May 6, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Apu Gomes/Getty Images)
