Why did Musk back Trump? Democratic lawmaker points to political abandonment

Rep. Ro Khanna says billionaire Elon Musk drifted away from the Democratic Party partially because he felt neglected.

“I think it’s both personal and, to some extent now, ideological,” the California Democrat said Thursday on “CNN This Morning.” “I mean, we didn’t champion him as a founder of electric vehicles.”

Mr. Musk, founder of EV giant Tesla and SpaceX, tossed his support behind Donald Trump in the presidential race.

Mr. Musk used X, the social media platform he owns, as a bullhorn to drive home his support for the GOP nominee and attack President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats.

Mr. Musk has become a close Trump ally.

The president-elect has tapped him to co-chair a Department of Government Efficiency alongside Vivek Ramaswamy, a businessman who ran for the GOP presidential nomination and has become a MAGA star.

Mr. Musk had a long history of backing Democrats in presidential races. He said he supported Mr. Biden in 2020, Hillary Clinton in 2016 and President Obama in 2012 and 2008.

Mr. Khanna said his party’s relationship with Mr. Musk soured after he was left off a Democratic invite list to a 2021 summit on electric vehicles despite his company’s dominating role in that market. 

The congressman also said Mr. Biden failed to congratulate Mr. Musk after the SpaceX launch of the first all-civilian space flight or to appreciate his Starlink satellite internet service.

“There have been issues of not celebrating what SpaceX has been doing. There have been issues of not understanding what Starlink’s value could be,” Mr. Khanna said. “And so this is why he had supported Hillary Clinton and he had supported Barack Obama, but he has drifted in terms of supporting the Democratic Party.”