Trump slams Elon Musk after Tesla CEO backs Ron DeSantis for president

Donald Trump, the former US president, lashed out at Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, during the GOP rally in Anchorage, Alaska.

The 76-year-old called the world’s richest man a “bulls**t artist” adding that he’d predicted the entrepreneur wouldn’t go through with the Twitter sale. Musk has walked away from the deal after offering $44 billion to acquire the social media company. 

Trump slammed Twitter, which banned him for posts during the Jan 6 insurrection and promoted Truth Social, his social media platform. Earlier, when Musk had intended to buy Twitter and make it a place for “free speech”, there were questions about whether Trump would return. The billionaire was open to unblocking the former president’s account and Twitter also saw several conservatives like Tucker Carlson of Fox, return. However, Trump maintained at the time that he wasn’t interested in returning to the Parag Agrawal-run company. 

The Republican also claimed that Musk had said he’d voted for him and then lied about it. 

Also Read | Will Donald Trump end Steve Bannon’s executive privilege?

“You know, he said the other day, ‘Oh, I’ve never voted for a Republican.’ I said, ‘I didn’t know that, he told me he voted for me’”, Trump added. 

His comments come after Musk said that he’d voted Republican for the first time, during the Texas midterms, and also noted that his support wavered towards Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who’s running for president in 2024. 

Trump is believed to considering a bid as well. The former president currently faces a slew of problems, from the case in Georgia where he’s accused of trying to overturn the election to the Jan 6 hearing, which is investigating Trump’s links to the Capitol Hill riots. 

Also Read | Twitter without Musk: Where is the company headed?

During his speech at Anchorage, Trump was joined on stage by US House candidate and former governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, and Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka, who’s trying to unseat Republican Lisa Murkowski.