An outburst of criticism against the boss of Tesla and support for Trump among European politicians in recent hours: Chancellor Scholz, British Prime Minister Starmer, the Norwegian Prime Minister… And even Emmanuel Macron, who, two days ago, mentioned the billionaire’s support for, I quote, “a reactionary international by intervening directly in the elections”.
All this follows numerous posts from Elon Musk, on the social network he owns, And it goes beyond posts. Tomorrow he is organizing an interview with Alice Weidel, the boss of the AFD, on X, as he did with Trump. And he announced $100 million in support for Britain’s far-right Reform UK party.
What can be done about this interference? Nothing. The declarations of our heads of government are admissions of powerlessness. We live in a democracy, Musk is free, he is speaking to voters from free countries. Idiot to talk about interference. Rupert Murdoch did exactly the same thing with his British newspapers. The only thing we can blame him for is controlling his social network and the algorithms, which can artificially promote this or that content. But be careful, the world has changed. Not long ago, the future American vice-president, Vance, warned: if the Europeans decide to censor Musk’s posts, they could be deprived of military support for NATO.
A risk for its economic activity
Today, only Elon Musk can stop Musk himself, because this political hyperactivity will inevitably have economic consequences for him. We will closely monitor Tesla sales in the United Kingdom, I would be surprised if things get out of control. The same goes for the group’s other markets, starting with the United States, where such a strong personal image will put off many customers. At a time when its car sales are already down for the first time in ten years.
But that will not apply to businesses where it has a quasi-monopoly. Space and telecommunications. A few days ago, François Bayrou announced that to help rebuild Mayotte, France would deploy Starlink telecoms stations, owned by Musk. There is simply no alternative. This is the choice made by Georgia Meloni, the Italian Prime Minister, also of the far right, who placed an order of 1.5 billion euros for a Starlink system. An initiative that unleashes a political storm in Italy, from the opposition, precisely because of Musk’s positioning. Unbridled Elon Musk hasn’t finished making a mess in Europe.
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