Elon Musk criticized the verdict that made Donald Trump the first former American president to be criminally convicted Thursday, with the Tesla boss claiming that the trial had been politically motivated.
After Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in relation to a scheme to silence a porn star and unlawfully influence the 2016 election, Musk moaned that the history-making outcome of the trial is bad news for all Americans. “Indeed, great damage was done today to the public’s faith in the American legal system,” he wrote in a post on X.
Musk’s comment came in response to another user who bemoaned that the first conviction of a former president had occurred not because of the “Iraq or Afghanistan wars, illegal CIA coups, drone striking weddings, or spying on Americans” but rather because “Trump misclassified a $130,000 payment for a porn star’s NDA.”
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Musk apparently also saw Trump’s crimes as insignificant and questioned the legitimacy of the prosecution. “If a former President can be criminally convicted over such a trivial matter—motivated by politics, rather than justice—then anyone is at risk of a similar fate,” he wrote.
The billionaire also concurred with points made by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a former candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination who has more recently become a champion of Trump—the man who relentlessly mocked DeSantis as his campaign went up in flames.
“Today’s verdict represents the culmination of a legal process that has been bent to the political will of the actors involved: a leftist prosecutor, a partisan judge and a jury reflective of one of the most liberal enclaves in America—all in an effort to ‘get’ Donald Trump,” DeSantis wrote on X.
He went on to claim that the case would not have been brought if the defendant wasn’t Trump and said the “rule of law should be applied in a dispassionate, even-handed manner, not become captive to the political agenda of some kangaroo court.”
“Well said,” Musk replied to DeSantis’ screed. He also said the verdict is “Troubling indeed,” adding: “The American people as a whole should decide who is president.” It’s not exactly clear how he believes the verdict affects the election—Trump can still run despite being a convicted felon.
The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Musk and Trump have grown closer recently, speaking on phone calls several times a month and discussing issues around immigration, tech, and science. The Journal also reported that the pair had spoken about a possible advisory role for Musk if Trump returns to the White House in November, though Musk publicly denied any such conversation had taken place.
“There have not been any discussions of a role for me in a potential Trump Presidency,” he said Thursday.
