{"id":45276,"date":"2024-12-11T13:36:27","date_gmt":"2024-12-11T17:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/?p=45276"},"modified":"2024-12-12T08:22:26","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T12:22:26","slug":"opinion-how-a-south-african-billionaire-manipulated-the-american-people-into-voting-for-donald-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/opinion\/2024\/12\/11\/opinion-how-a-south-african-billionaire-manipulated-the-american-people-into-voting-for-donald-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: How a South African billionaire manipulated the American people into voting for Donald Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

Superheroes aren\u2019t real, but supervillains are. Many people are aware that social media doubles as a news source in this generation, but Elon Musk has harnessed this power in a way never seen before. This is how a South African billionaire manipulated the American people into voting for Donald Trump.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of Musk\u2019s biggest concerns when considering who to vote for is the southern border and illegal immigration. He believes in Trump\u2019s deportation plans and his views surrounding immigration. Yet, he worked in America <\/span>illegally<\/span><\/a> for a decade and then lied about it. In 1995, Musk arrived at Stanford University, yet didn\u2019t enroll in any classes. From a legal standpoint, there is no basis for Musk to keep his J-1 visa (citizenship that is used for nonimmigrant students who are pursuing education in the U.S.). Musk claimed that he got the visa changed to an H-1B visa (a visa used for specialized occupations).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Once again, that is not applicable to Musk\u2019s immigration path. In a video published by Milken Industry\u2019s YouTube page, Musk’s younger brother confirms the suspicion of illegal immigration, \u201cWhen they did fund us,\u201d Kimbal Musk recalled, \u201cthey realized that we were illegal immigrants.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fast forward 9 years, and we arrive on April 14, 2022. Elon offered 44 billion dollars to purchase what was formerly known as Twitter. Musk explains that Twitter must be a no-man\u2019s-land when it comes to political ideologies, \u201cFor Twitter to deserve public trust, it must be politically neutral, which effectively means upsetting the far right and the far left equally.\u201d 6 months later, on October 27, 2022, the deal went through, making Musk the owner of Twitter. In the following days, Musk lays off top execs and half of staff. Musk created a content moderation council to enforce the regulation of spam and fraud.<\/span><\/p>\n

The subsequent tweets from Musk\u2019s Twitter promoted heavily conservative conspiracy theories. Musk reposted far-right misinformation about a <\/span>brutal attack on Nancy Pelosi\u2019s husband<\/span><\/a>, stating a baseless conspiracy that suggests homosexual adultery and intoxication. Musk tweets, \u201cThere is a possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye\u201d, citing a source known for baseless theories and propaganda, The Santa Monica Observer.<\/span><\/p>\n

On November 5, 2022,\u00a0 Twitter started charging people for a blue check mark, meaning there is no more background verification for accounts that want to become \u201cofficial\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

13 days later, Twitter started to unblock and promote far-right misogynistic accounts such as the infamous influencer, Andrew Tate. After being banned in 2017 for saying women should take some accountability for rape, he quoteed in one of his tweets, \u201cI have decided to fly to the failed state of California, walk into Twitter HQ, and tell @elonmusk that he\u2019s a legend. On my way.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

December 5, 2022, <\/span>Tate and his brother are arrested<\/span><\/a> on suspicion of human trafficking, rape, and organized crime in Romania.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s Trust and Safety Council is dissolved<\/span><\/a> only three short days after Tate\u2019s arrest, and three members resigned and stated \u201cContrary to claims by Elon Musk, the safety and wellbeing of Twitter’s users are on the decline.” Musk counter-tweets, \u201cIt is a crime that they refused to take action on child exploitation for years!”<\/span><\/p>\n

It seems quiet on social media, until one of the most anticipated days in American sports, the Super Bowl. Both President Joe Biden and Musk tweet in regards to the Chiefs and Eagles matchup. President Biden\u2019s comment gets over 21 million more views than Musk\u2019s, leading Musk to leave the big game early. He has a meeting with Twitter marketing to promote his tweets on the platform by a factor of 1000 so that his tweets would be shown to more people than the President of the United States.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the year went on, Musk got backlash from organizations that claimed that X had failed to protect users from sensitive information and detrimental content. The Center for Countering Digital Hate claimed that Musk had failed to keep the platform free of hate, to which Musk responded with a <\/span>lawsuit<\/span><\/a> in July of 2023.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That same month, \u201c@ElonJet\u201d is deactivated on Twitter along with 25 other accounts that share public information about his private transportation and were created on Threads. Musk threatens to sue for \u201csystematic, willful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property.”<\/span><\/p>\n

August 24, 2023, Former President Donald Trump\u2019s social media ban is lifted for the first time since the worst attack on American democracy, January 6. Trump posts his mugshot with the words \u201cElection interference. Never surrender\u201d underneath. Musk reposts the shot with the simple, yet monumental words, \u201cNext level,\u201d endorsing the former president.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Four days later, X lifted the former ban on political advertisements, allowing Musk to spread his support for the far right and Donald Trump. After this, A racist conspiracy theorist \u201cFact Checker Eric\u201d posts a theory about Jewish people importing immigrants to fix an election, \u201cOkay. Jewish communities have been pushing the exact dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them\u2026\u201d The post receives 21.1 thousand upvotes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Musk replies to the racist and insensitive post, \u201cYou have said the actual truth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Because of this and other instances where Musk was criticized for the normalized hate on the platform, X lost major advertisers. <\/span>Musk tells them<\/span><\/a> \u201cGo [expletive] Yourself.\u201d Musk continues to spread propaganda and misinformation about the Democratic party, posting \u201cThe Dem Party’s goal is to import voters.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In March of 2024, Musk lost the lawsuit for a loss of \u201ctens of millions of dollars\u201d in advertising revenue after the Center for Countering Digital hate claimed online hate and misinformation skyrocketed after Musk purchased Twitter. \u201cThis case is about punishing the Defendants for their speech.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As the presidential election started to creep closer, Musk\u2019s involvement became more than concerning. He created America PAC, a Political Action Committee whose goal is to mobilize 1,000,000 voters in favor of former president Trump. Later in the campaign, Musk calls Trump on behalf of JD Vance and urges him to pick Vance as his running mate. Vance then calls abortion \u201cmurder\u201d and insults women who do not have children calling them \u201cchildless cat ladies\u201d. The very next day, Vance is named Trump\u2019s running mate. Here\u2019s the legal trouble with that; <\/span>owners of super PACs cannot coordinate with the candidates they support<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If that wasn\u2019t alarming enough, on September 6th, Trump promised that Musk will be appointed head of government efficiency if he is elected. This title gives Musk the power to regulate the regulators who oversee his companies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On September 10, 2024, the majority of America cringed and shook their heads as the presidential debate was aired. A now infamous claim, Musk and former president Trump spread false information about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio eating their pets.\u00a0 The claims led to bomb threats directed towards the town. After the debate, Musk shared false claims of the Democratic nominee Kamala Harris cheating and shared AI pictures of Trump cuddling animals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

6 days post-debate, Musk suggests a highly disturbing and anti-American idea regarding the various attempts on politicians’ lives this election. Musk posts, \u201cNo one is even trying to assassinate Biden\/Kamala.\u201d Consequently, The White House responded with a post of their own \u201cViolence should only be condemned, never encouraged or joked about. This rhetoric is irresponsible.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s involvement in the election only grows as he posts, \u201cUnless Trump wins and we get rid of the mountain of smothering regulations (that have nothing to do with safety!), humanity will never reach Mars.\u201d This suggests that Musk would get rid of regulators that control his corporations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Musk held multiple pro-Trump town halls and joined Trump on stage in Pennsylvania for the months leading up to the election. He recruited lieutenants from his companies to join him in supporting the Trump campaign, as he donated up to 76 million dollars to the campaign.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In mid-October, it is revealed that a Musk-funded foundation is spreading propaganda about Kamala Harris to Muslim voters in Michigan, and Jewish voters in Pennsylvania, changing the rhetoric depending on the audience.<\/span><\/p>\n

On October 19, it was revealed that the Building America\u2019s Future Pact (a Musk-funded foundation) <\/span>impersonated the Harris campaign,<\/span><\/a> creating a fake website with fake policies and then sending text messages to voters directing them to the website.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To continue advocating for Trump, Musk offered Pennsylvania voters 100 dollars if they signed a petition saying they’d vote for Trump. He also started a giveaway contest that gave away 1,000,000 dollars a day to any random voter who said they’d vote for the former president.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And if you thought it wouldn\u2019t get sketchier, The Washington Post releases that Musk has been <\/span>in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/span><\/a> It was also determined that Musk had posted 3,000 times spreading misinformation, making him the second largest contributor, the first being Donald Trump.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, Donald Trump has been elected as the 47th president of the United States. In the following weeks, the president-elect fulfilled his promise to Elon and created DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) and named Musk as a co-runner of the department.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Elon Musk has successfully manipulated the American people\u2019s minds and has become the real-life personification of a comic book supervillain. But America, wake up. There is no Superman coming to save us. Not because Krypton doesn\u2019t exist or no billionaire is using his fear of bats to fight crime, but because superheroes are the figurative embodiment of what a nation can become. Whether it\u2019s super strength or super speed, there is no ability that the American people lack when united. Barack Obama said it best, \u201cThere is not a liberal America or a conservative America, there is the United States of America\u201d. The only way to overcome such outward hatred displayed by Elon Musk is for \u201cWe the People\u201d to become united once again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Superheroes aren\u2019t real, but supervillains are. Many people are aware that social media doubles as a news source in this generation, but Elon Musk has harnessed this power in a way never seen before. This is how a South African billionaire manipulated the American people into voting for Donald Trump.\u00a0 One of Musk\u2019s biggest concerns…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,11],"tags":[],"staff_name":[1428],"class_list":["post-45276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","category-top-stories","staff_name-helene-schuler"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45276"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45279,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45276\/revisions\/45279"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45276"},{"taxonomy":"staff_name","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/staff_name?post=45276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}