US: Musk clarifies that he backs moderate Republicans and Democrats

On Tuesday, Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk stated that he backed moderate Republicans as well as moderate Democrats, just three months after announcing that he would vote for Republicans.

"To be clear, I support the left half of the Republican Party and the right half of the Democratic Party!" the billionaire wrote on Twitter, on the day he was due to attend a fundraiser for top US House of Representatives Republican Kevin McCarthy, according to the New York Times.

That fundraiser was to be held in Wyoming, where Republican US Representative Liz Cheney lost to Harriet Hageman, a primary challenger from within her own party who former President Donald Trump backed, because Cheney had supported his impeachment after the Capitol riots of on January 6, 2021.

Cheney was also stripped of her House Republican leadership roles after criticising Trump.

In May, Musk had tweeted that he had voted for Democrats in the past, but his future votes would be for Republicans.

Musk frequently comments on politics, saying earlier this summer that he was leaning towards supporting Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis for president in 2024, and that Trump was too old to serve as president again.

In June, President Joe Biden compared Tesla unfavourably to Ford Motor Co, while sarcastically wishing Musk "lots of luck" on his "trip to the moon", after the billionaire expressed reservations about the economy. Musk has often unapologetically fired off harsh tweets directed at the president, and has been critical of Biden's union-first, subsidy-heavy approach to building the electric vehicle market.

ALSO READ:

• US: Elon Musk sets his sights on football club Manchester United

• Musk's Space X launches Falcon 9 rocket with 46 satellites

• US: Elon Musk hints at new social media platform amid Twitter legal feud

• Americas