“He said the other day, ‘Oh, I’ve never voted for a Republican.’ I said, ‘I didn’t know that,’ ” Trump stated at the Anchorage rally for Alaska Republicans Sarah Palin and Gov. Mike Dunleavy. “He told me he voted for me, so he’s another bullshit artist.”
Musk responded to a video of Trump’s remarks in a sequence of tweets Monday evening.
“I don’t hate the man, but it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat and sail into the sunset,” Musk tweeted.
I don’t hate the man, but it surely’s time for Trump to hold up his hat & sail into the sundown.
Dems should additionally name off the assault – don’t make it in order that Trump’s solely approach to survive is to regain the Presidency.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2022
Musk additionally known as on Democrats to “call off the attack” and not concentrate on whether or not Trump decides to again run for the White House.
“Don’t make it so that Trump’s only way to survive is to regain the Presidency,” stated Musk, who beforehand famous he’s leaning towards supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2024 if the Republican have been to run for president.
While again providing his assist of DeSantis, the billionaire pressured that Trump can be too old to be president.
“Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America,” Musk wrote.
A Trump spokesman didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark early Tuesday.
Musk’s tweets towards Trump come as Twitter is setting the stage for a authorized battle with the billionaire to implement a takeover it wasn’t even certain it wished. As the firm’s inventory fell one other 11.3 p.c after Musk introduced Friday he was backing out of the deal to buy Twitter, the board for the social media large is predicted to file a lawsuit in Delaware Court of Chancery as quickly as this week to maintain the Tesla chief govt on the hook.
Musk’s attorneys are arguing that he has a proper to drop out of the $44 billion settlement as a result of Twitter hasn’t given him sufficient information about the firm’s enterprise.
The back-and-forth between Musk and Twitter is unfolding as Trump continues to rail towards the House choose committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, rebel plans. The seventh public listening to on Tuesday is predicted to concentrate on the methods through which Trump and his allies summoned far-right militant teams to Washington as he grew more and more determined to maintain on to energy. The committee is predicted to argue that Trump used the date of the congressional counting of the votes, Jan. 6, 2021, to block a peaceable switch of energy.
Shortly after it was introduced that Musk was buying Twitter, he stated in May that he would reverse the firm’s ban on Trump. Twitter had banned Trump’s account after the Capitol riot, citing the “risk of further incitement of violence.” Even although Trump has stated he wouldn’t rejoin Twitter, Musk stated the transfer was “a mistake.”
“I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump. I think that was a mistake,” Musk stated at a May 10 occasion hosted by the Financial Times. “It alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice.”
On Saturday, Trump, who has continued to make false claims of election fraud, stated a high precedence for Republicans should be to “stop left-wing censorship and to restore free speech in America.” As he urged supporters to signal up for his social media firm, Truth Social — “It’s hot as a pistol” — Trump turned his consideration to Musk and Twitter.
“Who the hell knows what’s going to happen?” Trump stated. “He’s got a pretty rotten contract. I looked at his contract, not a good contract.”
Trump then lashed out at Musk for allegedly telling the former president he had voted for him. Musk donated to Hillary Clinton’s marketing campaign in 2016, in accordance to Federal Election Commission data, and tweeted in May that he voted for Clinton in 2016 and President Biden in 2020. Musk additionally wrote that he voted for Republican Mayra Flores, who gained a particular election final month in South Texas’s closely Hispanic, blue-leaning thirty fourth Congressional District.
When a conservative media persona challenged Musk’s tweet saying Trump should “hang up his hat and sail into the sunset,” the billionaire stated the former president carried with him “too much drama.”
“Do we really want a bull in a china shop situation every single day!?” Musk wrote. “Also, I think the legal maximum age for start of Presidential term should be 69.”
There is not any higher age restrict for candidates in search of the presidency. If Trump have been to run and be the GOP nominee, he can be 78 on Election Day. Biden can be about two weeks shy of his 82nd birthday on Election Day in November 2024.
Musk went on to declare that if DeSantis have been to run towards Biden, “then DeSantis will easily win — he doesn’t even need to campaign.”
Rachel Lerman, Yiwen Lu, Jacqueline Alemany and Hannah Allam contributed to this report.