Several fans told me that they’re struggling to reconcile this version of Musk with his pre-pandemic persona. Calling someone a bad name or insulting someone without evidence is obviously bad, but I think nothing compares to taking human life lightly
, Sun, a scientist in the Bay Area who asked to go by only his surname to protect his privacy, told me. Sun has watched countless Musk interviews over the years in which Musk says egregious but less dangerous things, but the pandemic tweets became so painful to see that Sun eventually unfollowed Musk. It’s like one of those hero characters in movies where he works on a grand mission and then he loses sight [of it] and thinks that vulnerable people are expendable
, he said.
I also heard from many fans that Musk is behaving less like humankind’s savior and more like a ruthless industrialist. This uncomfortable truth seemed to crystallize when Donald Trump tweeted in support of Musk’s desire to restart Tesla operations and Musk thanked him. If Musk is supposed to be a climate hero, he’s suddenly fraternizing with a villain who doesn’t believe in human-caused climate change and has spent his time in office reversing dozens of environmental policies. Only three years ago, Musk removed himself from a presidential advisory council specifically because Trump withdrew the U.S. from international accords meant to address climate change.
Marina Koren
I hate to break it to Elon Musk’s fans, but he has always been a ruthless industrialist – this crisis is just making this crystal clear for (some) people in denial. His behavior is veering more and more into Trump territory – so much so that Musk openly considers voting for him, after his earlier support for Kanye West.