Elon Musk—the billionaire X owner and vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump—made a bizarre post taking aim at Taylor Swift soon after she made her highly anticipated endorsement for Vice President Kamala Harris, stating he will “give you a child and guard your cats with my life,” drawing mockery on X.
Key Facts
- Musk’s post, made at 12:46 a.m. EDT, has already been viewed more than 39 million times and liked more than 200,000 times as of Wednesday morning.
- Though it’s unclear what Musk was referring to, his pledge to “guard” Swift’s cats could reference false allegations of Haitian immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, that have gone viral and been parroted by Musk, Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio.
- Springfield, Ohio police told Forbes there have been “no credible reports” of pets being harmed or eaten—but Trump supporters on social media have used the issue as a rallying cry, portraying the former president as a saviour of pet cats.
- Musk’s tweet might also reference Swift’s post: She posted her endorsement Tuesday night with a picture of her holding her cat, signed “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady”—a dig at Vance, who previously criticised Democrats as “childless cat ladies.”
- Musk made other posts in support of Trump following the debate, including one in which he alleged the debate moderators were unfair to Trump and another where he claimed “we will never reach Mars if Kamala wins.”
Chief Critics
Musk was quickly slammed online. One post on X, liked more than 132,000 times, condemned Musk’s post as “perhaps one of the creepiest posts of all time.” The popular left-wing Twitch streamer Hasan Piker garnered nearly 40,000 likes on a post calling Musk a “gross piece of sh*t,” while Brett Meiselas, founder of the left-leaning Meidas Touch media company, garnered 35,000 likes stating Musk “telling Taylor Swift he’ll impregnate her is peak weirdo and creeper behaviour.”
News Peg
Billionaire pop star Swift endorsed Harris after significant speculation from voters and media outlets over whether she would weigh in on the race. Swift called Harris a “steady-handed, gifted leader” in an Instagram post to her 283 million followers made soon after Tuesday’s presidential debate, stating she believes “we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.”
Tangent
Taylor Swift has largely stayed out of politics for much of her career, though she endorsed President Joe Biden in 2020 and previously made her first political endorsement for Democrat Phil Bredesen over Republican Marsha Blackburn in the 2018 Senate race in Tennessee. Vote.org has said Swift’s political statements have caused spikes in voter registrations, with nearly 65,000 registrations among voters aged 18 to 29 recorded in the 24 hours after her 2018 endorsement.
Key Background
Musk has emerged as a highly vocal proponent of Trump ahead of the 2024 presidential election. The most-followed person on X, Musk frequently boosts right-wing rhetoric to his 197 million followers, and he the Wall Street Journal reported in July he plans to contribute $45 million a month to the pro-Trump America PAC (the billionaire denied the report but acknowledged he is making “lower level” donations). Musk interviewed Trump in a conversation on X in August, and Trump said last week if he wins, Musk has agreed to lead a “government efficiency commission tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government.”
Forbes Valuation
Forbes estimates Musk is worth $248.7 billion as of Wednesday morning, making him the richest man in the world. Much of his wealth comes from his stakes in Tesla and SpaceX, and he also owns an estimated 74% of X. Swift is worth an estimated $1.3 billion. She became a billionaire in October 2023, the first musician to make the ranks solely based on her songs and performances.
This article was originally published on forbes.com.
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