X owner Elon Musk gave his thoughts on who he might vote for in the 2024 presidential race when asked about the matter during an interview in New York City Wednesday afternoon.
Musk made the remarks during an on stage interview at The New York Times Dealbook Summit 2023 at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.
He got lured into talking about the matter when the host brought up all the work that he has done to try to protect the climate by making Tesla as successful as it is.
The host asked why Musk would then attend a fundraiser for a candidate like Vivek Ramaswamy, given Ramaswamy’s view that climate change is a hoax.
“I wanted to hear what Vivek had to say,” Musk said. “Because I think some of his things are that some of the things he says I think, are pretty solid.”
Musk, who signaled support for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis last year but stopped short of making an endorsement, noted that he still has not endorsed any candidate yet.
Musk noted how the issue of government overreach and regulation of speech was a direct violation of the First Amendment and a threat to the U.S.
“The reason for the First Amendment for freedom of speech is because the people that immigrated to this country came from a places where there was not freedom of speech,” he said. “And, and they were like, ‘you know, what, we got to make sure that that’s constitutional’. Because where they came from, if they said something they would be put in prison [or] something bad would happen to them.”
The host then asked Musk if he would vote for President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump if the 2024 election became a rematch of 2020.
“I think I would not vote for Biden,” Musk said. “I’m not saying I’d vote for Trump but I mean this is definitely a difficult choice here.”
The host then asked if Musk would vote for Nikki Haley.
“Nikki Haley, by the way, wants all social media names to be exposed, as you know,” the host said.
“No, I think that’s outrageous,” Musk responded. “I’m not gonna vote for some pro-censorship candidate like that.”
During the interview, Musk was also asked about the boycott of X by several companies — including Disney, Paramount, NBCUniversal, Comcast, Lionsgate, and Warner Bros. Discovery.
“I hope they stop,” Musk said, adding, “Don’t advertise.”
“You don’t want them to advertise?” the host asked.
“No,” Musk said. “If somebody’s gonna try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go f*** yourself. Go. F***. Yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is. Hey, Bob, I’m sure you’re in the audience.”
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