“Elon announced the other day that he supports me and I didn’t even know it, I read it too, he hadn’t told me. But he’ll give me $45 million a month. Per month. And a little while ago I had called him to ask what he was doing and he didn’t even mention it. Others give you two dollars and you have to take them out to eat. No, he’s really great. It really is!”.

Companions in battle

A political romance is born here. THE Donald Trump he does not hide his admiration for the owner of the Tesla car company, SpaceX and the X platform, formerly of Twitter. Elon Musk isn’t just a big sponsor of the former president. He is a fellow traveler on the road to making, as they say, “America great again.”

Musk was one of the first to post his well wishes for Trump after the attack on him, and at the same time expressed his full political and financial support. He took on the role of unofficial campaign treasurer, promising to raise $45 million with his friends to make Trump president again. The one who, according to his earlier statements, always voted for Democrats.

Science as an a la carte menu

At first sight it seems paradoxical. THE Mask he was an early adopter of climate change and targeting as the first responsible for emissions from combustion engines, investing in electric mobility at a time when Trump continued to call the scientific studies of the greenhouse effect “sham” and attribute them to dark motives. Now Trump, almost apologetically, is trying to explain that they don’t really disagree on the issue.

“I don’t dislike electric cars. I had too. I’ve driven them. But it’s not for everyone. Some are forced to drive long distances.”

So the issue was practical. Trump doesn’t think electrification is bad. Nor does he find it necessary to explain how it is that he admires only the bits of science and technology that suit him, the former president who initially doubted the existence of the coronavirus, mocked scientists and called for people to be vaccinated with bleach.

A common narrative

Of course, if you think about it, these are all details. What unites them is their common narrative of the so-called American dream. In its harshest form perhaps, but always shining. Both rich, Musk more so, have at times mocked the unemployed, the poor, the unsuccessful. Trump likes to flatter his audience by calling them smart. His policy is made for them, as he emphasizes at every opportunity.

“We need to make life better for smart people. We have a lot of smart people. We want to improve their lives. As intelligently as possible.”

The vanity of the two, the thirst for power, but also their showmanship does not just unite them. It also becomes a commodity. Highly sought after. Political in one case, business in the other case. The message is simple: “Whoever wants to be with the powerful, with the winners, with those who know how to win, can follow us. And maybe one day he will become like us. If he doesn’t succeed, it will be his own fault.”