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After months of back and forth between Tesla boss Elon Musk and presidential hopeful Donald Trump, Musk has this week officially endorsed Trump’s bid to re-enter the White House. The EV maker’s boss made the move on X over the weekend, where he branded the former president and convicted felon “strong.”
Musk has long had close ties to Trump, showering the former president with praise while he was in office and even reportedly eyeing a place in the White House should Trump win the election in 150 days time. Now, the Tesla boss has officially thrown his backing behind the Trump campaign, reports Automotive News. According to the site:
Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk publicly endorsed Donald Trump for the first time in the U.S. presidential race, calling the Republican former president “tough.”
Musk, the world’s richest person, posted the endorsement with a video of Trump with blood on his face pumping his fist after multiple shots rang out at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. Trump was safe.
The posts cement Musk’s shift towards right-wing politics and hand Trump a high-profile backer in his quest to return to the White House in the Nov. 5 election.
“I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” Musk posted on his social media platform X.
The post came just hours after an assassination attempt was made on the former president while he was speaking at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Trump was shot in the ear while on stage, with the former president saying he was “saved by luck or God.”
It isn’t just online that Musk has been throwing his weight behind the Trump campaign, though, and he’s also been putting his money where his mouth is. According to Reuters, the world’s richest man has donated to groups working to re-elect Trump in November:
Billionaire Elon Musk, who has been ramping up criticism of U.S. President Joe Biden, has donated to a political group working to elect rival presidential candidate Donald Trump, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing sources.
The report did not indicate how much Musk donated but added it was “a sizable amount” given to a group called America PAC.
Musk’s support for Trump comes as the “Home Alone 2" actor continues to place future EV mandates, tax breaks and investment on the chopping block. The former president has said he will scrap every “crazy” EV mandate across America should he be returned to the White House later this year.
A version of this article originally appeared on Jalopnik’s The Morning Shift.