As the elections approach, attacks are mounting on Elon Musk, a close ally of Trump in the 2024 US elections. The SpaceX founder has not been seen at any campaign rallies before the elections, even as he continues to maintain a relationship with Trump. But that has far from safeguarded the world's richest man from criticism before the midterms.
The latest to target Musk was tech journalist and podcaster Kara Swisher, who, on October 14, launched a podcast with Hilary Clinton called the “High Stakes”.
Swisher appeared on a podcast on the Substack newsletter and YouTube channel, The Bulwark. She suggested that Democrats could launch a probe into Elon Musk if they manage to flip the houses in the US midterm elections. She suggested that the trillionaire would already be in jail if Kamala Harris became the POTUS instead of Trump in 2024. Her comments even sparked a response from Musk.
"Under Kamala Harris, he might be in jail right now, right?" Swisher said on The Bulwark. "And that's not because she's some avenging fury. It's because there are a lot of questions around different companies of his.
"If Donald Trump loses the House and the Senate, I would worry. I'd be worried if I were him," she added. "He has a very big sense of fate. And I think it's coming for him. And real hard."
{{/usCountry}}"If Donald Trump loses the House and the Senate, I would worry. I'd be worried if I were him," she added. "He has a very big sense of fate. And I think it's coming for him. And real hard."
{{/usCountry}}She alleges then that Musk "stopped like a half a dozen investigations of his various companies and argues that "they're going to start investigating again." In fact, she argues it would be "at the top of the list" after Trump and his family when it comes to investigations.
Elon Musk Responds To Kara Swisher's Comments
Kara Swisher's comments were so explosive that even Elon Musk was prompted to respond to them. Commenting on a video clip on X of the sequence from The Bulwark where Swisher talks about the probe, Musk wrote: “Message received.”
Musk’s companies face several separate federal investigations and legal challenges.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is examining Tesla’s compliance with safety requirements for its steering-wheel-less Cybercab robotaxis. The agency is conducting a separate probe into crashes involving its self-driving technology.
Additionally, XAI faces a lawsuit in Mississippi over an alleged violation of the Clean Air Act. Musk's acquisition of Twitter, now known as X, is also being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Who Is Kara Swisher?
Kara Swisher is an American technology journalist who rose to fame for her coverage of Silicon Valley and Big Tech, most famously at the Wall Street Journal, where she had a column called BoomTown. She co-founded technology publication Recode and the All Things Digital conference with fellow journalist Walt Mossberg. Swisher hosts the podcast On with Kara Swisher and co-hosts Pivot with Scott Galloway