What Elon Musk and Donald Trump have in common is that they are two of the most influential conservative personalities on social networks.
Their tweets are famous and shared by conservatives and Republicans who see them as bulwarks against the woke ideology, threatening their values and wanting to impose a new type of progressivism.
Trump, who has announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election, remains a darling of the Republican Party base.
Musk saw his popularity grow among conservatives when he decided to make Twitter, the social network bought last October for $44 billion, a bastion of conservatives. This has materialized by the proliferation of conspiracy theories and misinformation on the platform.
However, the two influencers are rivals. It is a rivalry stemming from the fact that Musk announced that his candidate for the 2024 presidential election is Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. DeSantis, who is 44 years old versus Trump who is 76, is considered the former president's most serious rival for the Republican primary.
Musk, Trump Exchange Barbs
Musk's support for DeSantis led to an exchange of barbs between him and Trump last July.
"Trump would be 82 at end of term, which is too old to be chief executive of anything, let alone the United States of America," the techno king said at the time, while urging Trump to retire for being too old. "If DeSantis runs against Biden in 2024, then DeSantis will easily win – he doesn’t even need to campaign."
But Trump, who is as abrasive as Musk, responded to the attacks by calling the tech mogul a "bullsh** artist."
"Elon, Elon is not going to buy Twitter," Trump said on July 9 at a rally in Anchorage, Alaska. "Where did you hear that before? From me." And then he went on the attack.
"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. So he's another bullsh** artist."
But that didn't stop Musk from reinstating Trump's Twitter account last November, ending the former conservative president's more than 22-month suspension from the platform. This suspension came after the events on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol. Trump supporters had engaged in violence to prevent the certification of the victory of Joe Biden in the presidential election of November 2020.
But Trump still hasn't tweeted, preferring to stay on Truth Social, his social network, rival to Twitter.
The two men have since avoided attacking each other directly.
'Landslide Victory'
It is in this context that Musk has just made a prediction about the political future of Trump, after the latter warned on Saturday, March 18, that he expected to be arrested on March 21.
"THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK," the former president wrote on Truth Social on March 18.
The former president, who would be the first former president in American history to receive an indictment for a crime, called on his supporters to protest, as a New York prosecutor could file charges for the money that was paid to women who alleged sexual encounters with Trump.
New York law enforcement officials have been beefing up security in the city in the event that Trump is indicted.
Prosecutors have remained silent on the grand jury's deliberation on the case.
It is not known whether prosecutors have reached out to Trump. There is no indication that it has happened.
Musk believes that if Trump is arrested, it would have a colossal impact on the 2024 presidential election.
"If this happens, Trump will be re-elected in a landslide victory," the billionaire predicted after the former president made the announcement.
The billionaire's prediction provoked mixed reactions from Twitter users.
"His campaign will go just as great as how you have been running Twitter! 🤣🤣🤣," quipped one user.
"Are you suggesting, that even if he is guilty, he should not be prosecuted, or merely that guilty or not, arrest will help him gin up his base? If he is in jail or has two more felonies (Jan 6 and/or Election interference) in process, I suspect the RNC may finally abandon him," commented another user.
"This feels like wishcasting on your part," commented another user.
Musk did not respond to comments.
