Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has responded to former President Donald Trump’s mocking criticism of his decision to withdraw from negotiations to acquire Twitter last week.
Musk wrote on Twitter on Monday evening in response to a clip of Trump’s remarks at a weekend rally in Anchorage, Alaska, “I don’t hate the man, but it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset.”
In front of a large crowd of his supporters, Trump criticized Musk for “getting himself into a mess” by attempting to abandon his plans to acquire Twitter. Musk, who attempted to acquire Twitter in May, withdrew from the takeover bid due to Twitter’s refusal to share complete data on the number of bots on its platform, according to Musk. Since then, Twitter has threatened to sue Musk to complete the acquisition, setting the stage for a high-stakes legal battle.
Musk and Trump have always been, at best, strange bedfellows, despite the fact that they both consider themselves to be leading defenders of free speech, controversial culture warriors, and two of the most notorious Twitter users before Trump was banned from the platform following the Capitol Riot of January 6, 2021.
Musk’s displeasure with Trump follows his recent announcement that he will support Republicans in the November midterm elections due to his contempt for President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party. Musk announced last month that he fulfilled this commitment by casting his first vote for Republican congressional candidate Maya Flores. He has also expressed a preference for Trump rival and Florida governor Ron DeSantis to run against Biden.
Despite considering his own plans to run for president in 2024, Trump appeared to take personal offense to Musk’s switch to the Republican Party.
Trump said at his rally, “He recently said, ‘Oh, I’ve never voted for a Republican.'” “I replied, ‘I had no idea,'” Trump continued. “He informed me that he voted for me, therefore he is another [expletive] artist.”
Musk was unfazed and responded by tweeting that he believed Trump’s age of 76 rendered him unfit for the presidency. He also reaffirmed his preference for DeSantis to challenge Biden in the upcoming election.
“Trump would be 82 years old at the end of his term, which is too old to be president of any nation, let alone the United States. If DeSantis runs against Biden in 2024, DeSantis will win easily without even having to campaign “said Musk.
