8.20.24
“Link on X To Watch Trump & Musk’s 8.12.24 Conversation; 5 Takeaways“
****TO WATCH THE 8.12.24 ENTIRE TRUMP AND MUSK CONVERSATION, PLEASE GO TO: “Full Replay: Pres. Donald Trump Live Interview with Elon Musk” -- By Tim Hains – Real Clear Politics -- https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2024/08/12/watch_live_president_donald_trump_interview_with_elon_musk.html
7.22.24 – “Elon Musk Says Trans Child Was Figuratively ‘Killed by the Woke Mind Virus,’ Vows To Destroy It: ‘My Son Is Dead.’” -- By Yael Halon – Fox News -- https://donnagarner.org/7-22-24-elon-musk-says-trans-child-was-figuratively-killed-by-the-woke-mind-virus-by-yael-halon-fox-news/
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8.18.24 – The Hill
“5 takeaways from the Trump-Musk Conversation on X”
By Brett Samuels
Excerpts from this article:
https://thehill.com/homenews/4825116-5-takeaways-donald-trump-elon-musk-conversation-x/
Former President Trump spoke Monday with Tesla founder Elon Musk on X, which Musk owns, marking Trump’s most significant return to the social media platform since he was reinstated on it in 2023.
Trump and Musk spoke for roughly two hours after their conversation was delayed because of technical issues that prevented many from initially joining.
The two covered a range of topics, including the recent assassination attempt on Trump, his views on immigration and the economy, and the future of energy production.
Musk has endorsed Trump in the 2024 campaign.
Here are five takeaways from their conversation.
(1)TRUMP RETURNS TO X
Monday essentially marked Trump’s return to the social media platform where he largely built his political brand and rewrote the rules around presidential communication.
…At its peak, Monday’s Spaces had more than 1 million listeners.
Trump was a prolific poster on the platform when it was known as Twitter until his account was suspended shortly after the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the Capitol, when officials said his posts posed “the risk of further incitement of violence.”
His account was reinstated last year, after Musk had bought the platform and rebranded it as X. He has posted once since, sharing his mug shot from a Georgia criminal indictment last August…
(2)TRUMP AVOIDS MAJOR MISSTEPS
The former president’s chat with Musk frequently resembled one of his rallies…attacked Harris and Biden as “incompetent” …
But he also managed to focus on issues, inflation in particular…
“The election is coming up, and people want to hear about the economy. Food prices are up … and this stupid administration allowed this to happen,” Trump said. “And it’s a shame. And that’s the thing people most care about, in my opinion.”
The former president attacked Harris as a “San Francisco liberal” who had changed her tune on issues such as fracking and defunding the police.
He argued Harris would revert to more liberal stances if she is elected in November.
Trump also attacked Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), for signing legislation requiring schools to provide free menstrual products in all public school bathrooms…
(3)BUT STILL GIVES DEMOCRATS FODDER
…Trump reiterated his stance that he would try to shutter the Department of Education and allow states to handle the issue on their own…
“Not every state will do great,” Trump said. “Of the 50, I would bet that 35 would do great.”
Trump again claimed there are enemies “within” the country who are more dangerous than Russia or China…
(4)MUSK SEEKS TO NUDGE TRUMP ON POLICY
Musk, who has made his support for Trump clear, frequently offered his own prescriptions for certain policy issues or tried to coax the former president into agreeing with his own point of view.
Musk said his views on climate change were that the country should not “vilify” the oil and gas industry but that “we should lean in the direction of sustainability.”
…The Tesla founder, who was born in South Africa, said he thinks legal immigration is good and that most of those who cross the border illegally are also good people, but that there needs to be a strong vetting process to prevent those who are dangerous from getting in.
…“I think it would be great to just have a government efficiency commission that looks at these things to make sure taxpayer money is spent in a good way,” Musk told Trump. “I’d be happy to help out on such a commission.”
(5)ANOTHER EVENT ON X PLAGUED BY TECH ISSUES
Musk blamed the issue [delayed transmission] on what he called a “massive DDOS,” or denial-of-service attack, targeting the platform.
“As this massive attack illustrates, there’s a lot of opposition to people just hearing what President Trump has to say,” Musk told listeners once the conversation began….
The technical problems were reminiscent of when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) attempted to use Spaces [owned by Elon Musk] to launch his 2024 presidential bid.
That was also plagued by technical issues, as the call went in and out for more than 20 minutes before Musk ended the original Spaces and attempted to begin a new one.