Is Trump’s Life a Disadvantage in the Eyes of Elon Musk?
Will Elon Musk’s self-proclaimed opposition to extending life lead him to back Kamala Harris in her run for president over the much-older Donald Trump?
That’s a question being asked by political insiders, who note that Harris, 59, has a significant age advantage over Donald Trump, 78, in the upcoming presidential election. Harris’s age is a major reason prominent Democrats threw their support behind her while pushing President Joe Biden, 81, to drop out of the race.
Musk endorsed Trump following the July 13 attempt to assassinate the former president assassination while he was campaigning in Butler, Penn. Rumors emerged that Musk, the world’s richest man, had pledged to donate $45 million a month to Trump’s election campaign. Musk has denied that, but he admits that he will be donating to the Trump campaign, and he has said the country would be better off with a Republican administration.
But while Musk has proclaimed his support for Trump, Harris campaign advisors believe they can change his mind by focusing more on the elderly former president’s age. Musk has expressed concern about the impact of aging.
Benzinga, a finance and investment news site, reports that during a 2021 Wall Street Journal CEO Council Summit, Musk said: “It is important for us to die because most of the time people don’t change their mind. They just die … If you live forever, we might become a very ossified society where new ideas cannot succeed.”
Musk re-emphasized his support for death over extended life in an interview on Peter Diamandis’ Moonshots podcast. “When people get old, they don’t change their minds; they just die. So, if you want to have progress in society, you got to make sure that people need to die because they don’t change their mind,” he said. “If all children lived for a long super long time, I think society would get very stale.”
““I think a lot of people in power who you wouldn’t want them to have some super longevity situation because then they’d never be out of power.”
Asked by Diamandis if he would like to live to 100, Musk, who is 53, said: “I don’t think I want to be a burden to society or have dementia and not know what’s going on. I’d prefer to be dead.”
While Harris supporters think they might be able to sway Musk by focusing on Trump’s age, some Trump supporters say the focus should be on J.D. Vance, the 39-year-old Republican vice president nominee. They don’t think Trump, given his age, weight, and passion for cheeseburgers, would live through a full term if he is re-elected.
