Some readers have wondered why Musk’s far-right politics are relevant. Well, let me note the following from the NYT piece on the attack on USAID:
U.S.A.I.D. funds democracy-promotion programs around the world, including in European countries where right-wing populist movements are thriving. Mr. Musk has become an ally of those movements, some of whose leaders have specifically targeted the agency’s pro-democracy programs in recent years.
Supporters of Viktor Orban, the right-wing leader of Hungary and a darling of pro-Trump conservatives in the United States, have personally criticized Samantha Power, who led U.S.A.I.D. during the Biden administration, for trying to import American values into their country.
I suppose the good news for Orban is that Musk, as enabled by Trump, is now importing Hungarian (or, at least, Orbanian) values to the United States.
Last week, Balazs Orban, a Hungarian parliamentarian who is not related to Viktor Orban, wrote on social media: “One of the largest Hungarian opposition media outlets is upset by Trump’s executive order halting U.S. foreign aid for 90 days, as Hungary’s ‘independent’ press stands to lose millions of forints in funding. Makes you wonder how independent one can be when relying on another government’s funding…”
Mr. Musk replied to the post, declaring, “The US radical-left has been using US taxpayer money to fund radical-left political parties & media around the world!”
But, of course those of us worried about fascism and authoritarianism were being alarmists.
As I noted in a prior post, Musk was ranting about the National Endowment for Democracy on Twitter yesterday. The NED is definitely something that a right-wing reactionary would not like.
But, you know, maybe Musk isn’t deeply embedded in the alt-right, and maybe he didn’t know what he was doing with that salute, and maybe he wasn’t minimizing the Holocaust.
It is just all a coincidence!
He’s just a lovable billionaire who likes rocket ships!
