For many years I’ve argued that the consolidation of great wealth in the hands of a few undermines our democracy.
Elon Musk is the poster child for that concern.
Wealth is most dangerous when transformed into political power.
One way Musk is transforming his gargantuan wealth into political power is by committing $45m a month, according to recent reporting, to a new pro-Trump super PAC founded and funded in May by other tech oligarchs. On Tuesday, Musk distanced himself from that claim, saying that the actual amount is lower.
Either way, we may never know how much Musk is plunking down for Trump because of Musk’s avowed distaste for groups whose donors must be legally disclosed. Musk prefers to wield his political power through dark money.
A second way Musk is transforming his wealth into political power is by posting pro-Trump, anti-Kamala Harris messages to his 189 million followers on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The reason Musk has 189 million followers is that he owns X. He can adjust its algorithm to give his tweets maximum exposure and effectively buy and capture huge numbers of X users.
Immediately after Biden withdrew from the race, Musk interacted with and reposted a number of X posts mocking and criticizing Harris while expressing support for Trump.
Musk retweeted former Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who said: “We’re not running against a candidate. We’re running against a system.”
Musk also tweeted out a video of Harris in which she said the pronouns she uses and described her appearance for the accessibility of blind people. Musk captioned the post: “Imagine 4 years of this … ”
Musk also retweeted and expressed approval of comments made by a QAnon-linked influencer, who had tweeted Biden’s resignation letter with the remark “Democrats destroy democracy in pursuit of power.” The Anti-Defamation League has highlighted this influencer as one of the “extremists and conspiracy theorists” that X has allowed back on to the platform.
A number of X users have complained on the platform that they have been unable to follow the @KamalaHQ account, the official rapid response page of the vice-president’s presidential campaign. Instead, the users found a message that said they had reached their “limit” and could not follow any more accounts at this time.
Trump is obviously delighted with Musk. The former president is reportedly thinking about offering the billionaire an advisory role in his administration, if there’s a second Trump presidency.
In all these ways, Musk and Trump seem on the way to merging into a single vortex of wealth and power. The result undermines American democracy and the rule of law.
Maybe we should call it the Mump – the joining together of two rich and famous narcissists who crave attention, lie through their teeth, enjoy provoking critics, hate labor unions, refuse to be held accountable for anything and have utter contempt for democracy.
Toward the end of America’s first Gilded Age, Louis Brandeis, the eminent American jurist, said: “We must make our choice. We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.”
Musk demonstrates the truth of Brandeis’s insight now, in America’s second Gilded Age.
High on the list of legislative objectives for Harris and the Democrats, if they regain power, should be a wealth tax that makes it impossible for future Mumps to use their great wealth to undermine democracy.
If a wealth tax is not politically feasible, an alternative would be to end the “stepped-up basis” inherent tax rule that allows heirs to great fortunes to avoid paying a dime of capital gains taxes.
What can you do about Musk in the meantime? Use your economic power. Boycott Tesla and tell advertisers to boycott X.
Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His newest book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com
This article was amended on 24 July 2024 to reflect Musk’s suggestion that the $45m figure is inaccurate
