As election night predictions looked increasingly favorable to Donald Trump, the tech titan who perhaps did more than anyone else to shift Silicon Valley to the right began taking his victory laps, primarily by denouncing all of his most shameful successes repeated.

As always, the “record usage of this platform” boast should be taken with a grain of salt, but X was undoubtedly a well-used information stream, both reliable and reliable seriously unreliablethis election cycle. Not that Musk's buddies see it that way. Rather, for hedge fund owner Bill Ackman, it's an acknowledgment that X – where Ackman repeatedly spread disinformation around network news, vaccines and plagiarism – is the epitome of accuracy.

Musk had a lot to do in this election. He's lost more money than anyone could ever dream of trying to make Twitter what it is today – a GOP propaganda outlet – and has helped siphon millions upon millions of dollars from the tech industry to line the Trump campaign's pockets. Tesla's business is suffering because of Musk's right-wing antics, meaning he's more reliant than ever on the federal contracts that keep SpaceX running. And of course he was promised a special Cabinet position in a Trump administration as well as plenty of tax and regulatory relief.

Much like his favorite podcast, Musk went “all in” on Trump, white supremacist ideologies and pre-emptive election conspiracies that he will likely continue to spread even after the polls close. The only way Musk could have recouped an investment of that magnitude was to ensure a Trump victory. And he didn't care what he had to destroy to get there.

Musk also benefited from an unholy alliance with a broader universe of “Manosphere” influencers, online extremists, and Democratic converts to Trump. This collective of men included Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Joe Rogan, Chris Rufo and Tucker Carlson, as well as the AI ​​accelerators – all of whom celebrated Musk's Twitter takeover from day one and benefited massively from his algorithmic tweaks that drove their far-reaching advances made. right-wing sentiments and conspiracy theories as liberal voices left the platform.

The Tesla CEO already had a large, cult-like following before going full MAGA, and he was able to expand that coalition significantly with these new friends. A few overarching factors likely helped: widespread post-pandemic malaise, popular dissatisfaction with Joe Biden's dovish presidency, and a spirited denunciation of toxic masculinity just as en masse women were rising up against the pandemic Dobbs-era rollback of reproductive rights.

It's not exactly a megapopular supermajority. Even in pro-Trump states (e.g. North Carolina), there are enough Democratic victories to dispute the theory of a nation held by the Republican Party. But there was a unique line for the Musk coalition all the way up to Trump: the ability to activate the kinds of online bros who might never have considered going to the ballot box a decade ago. If the people you turn to for business advice, training tips, sports highlights, and “politically incorrect” commentary are asking you to vote a certain way…why wouldn't you follow their path?

Throughout the election cycle, Musk and his ilk steered the online conversation toward the lowest common denominator on their platform, spreading misinformation and dangerous lies about vulnerable people, including (but not limited to!) immigrants and LGBTQ people.

All those weird, hyper-specific, mind-bending topics that were once the domain of obscure message boards, comment sections, and niche social networks—what if they were national topics of discussion? Now Musk and his friends will have Trump and JD Vance as open ears for all their crazy musings about fertility rates, climate change, raw egg diets, ketamine dosages and public health. What a way to increase your influence!

Anyway, the rocket Elon Musk posts here is definitely supposed to look like a dick, right? And now he’s talking about a “nation of builders”? Someone found out about it Ibsen.