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Benzinga
Benzinga
Politics
Shanthi Rexaline

Elon Musk's True Political Leanings: 'Executive Competence Super Underrated In Politics'

Not long after hinting that he has shifted allegiance to the Republican Party, Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) chief executive officer Elon Musk made his political affiliations clear through a tweet on Friday.

Political Affiliation Vs. Executive Competence: Musk said his political leanings are moderate, meaning it is neither fully Republican nor Democrat. He also said he believed this was the case for most Americans.

This pronouncement came as a follow-up to a tweet, wherein he showed his support for Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso. Caruso is a billionaire businessman who founded a real-estate company going by his name. He was formerly a member of the Republican Party, but has since then changed his affiliation to the Democratic Party.

Musk went on to suggest executive competence is more important than political affiliations. "Executive competence is super underrated in politics – we should care bout that a lot more," he said.

Related Link: Elon Musk On Tesla's Long-Term Growth: Why It Hasn't Even Reached 0.1% Of Future Potential

Multi-party Any Good? Musk also said open primaries are a good way to move candidates to become more centrist. An open primary is a primary election that does not limit voting to those affiliated to a particular party.

Musk's reply was in response to a query by India-based software engineer Pranay Pathole, who probed if a multi-party system will help improve democracy and provide people with more choices and eliminate gerontocracy.

For the issue of gerontocracy – a setup in which the governance is in the hands of old people – Musk said term limits will help to resolve this. He also reiterated his view that a maximum age limit, say 70, should be set for running, just like there are minimum age limits for the U.S. House, U.S. Senate and the president.

To prove his point, he noted that the government gives out the maximum social-security benefits at the age of 70. This is the age when the government decides you can't hold a job, he added.

Photo: Created with an image from Ministério Das Comunicações on Flickr

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