Summary
Republicans’ efforts to portray Elon Musk as a MAGA martyr are failing, as his victim narrative struggles to resonate with conservative audiences.
Musk’s controversial statements and perceived elitism, including his complaints of being targeted by Democrats, have alienated even right-wing supporters.
Protests and vandalism against Tesla have damaged the brand, and Musk’s ties to Trump have hurt the Trump’s approval ratings, especially on economic issues.
Attempts to rally sympathy for Musk, including his emotional Fox News appearance, have largely backfired.
Seriously! If I were the richest man in the world, I’d just fuck off quietly to my secret billionaire volcano, where I’d get fucked up on wine plundered from a sunken Spanish treasure galleon, and drugs you’ve never even heard of, for as long as I want, because literally nothing can affect you when you’re that rich! Why would you invite so much mockery??
Because true respect is something money can’t buy.
They say money can buy you whatever you want, but really it can only buy you items and appearances. But rich people spend so much time just throwing money at various desires and issues that they tend to confuse appearances with substance. Note Musk buying ‘skill’ at video games, and the push for AI—because it allows them to pretend to have skill at something they don’t.
So they endlessly chase appearances, and are confused when all they end up holding is empty air. An unsatisfying feeling, to say the least.
When you have everything else, and you’re still not happy, and throwing money at the issue is your only skill, you keep trying that, no matter how often it doesn’t work.