Musk is an outlier among executives who typically avoid partisan political advocacy.[220][221][222] Musk was a registered independent voter when he lived in California.[223] Historically, he has donated to both Democrats and Republicans,[224] many of whom serve in states in which he has a vested interest.[225] Beginning in 2022, his political contributions have mostly supported Republicans, with his first vote for a Republican going to Representative Mayra Flores in the 2022 Texas's 34th congressional district special election.[226][227] In 2024, he started supporting international far-right political parties, activists, and causes,[228] and has shared far-right misinformation[229][230][231] and numerous conspiracy theories.[232][233] As of 2024 his views were generally described as right-wing.[234]
Musk supported Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012,[235] Hillary Clinton in 2016, Joe Biden in 2020,[236] and Donald Trump in 2024.[237] In the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Musk endorsed candidate Andrew Yang and expressed support for Yang's proposed universal basic income,[238] and endorsed Kanye West's 2020 presidential campaign.[239] In 2021, Musk publicly expressed opposition to the Build Back Better Act, a $3.5 trillion legislative package endorsed by Joe Biden that ultimately failed to pass due to unanimous opposition from congressional Republicans and several Democrats.[240] In 2022, Musk said he would start supporting Republican Party candidates,[241] and gave over $50 million to Citizens for Sanity, a conservative political action committee.[242] In 2023, he supported Republican Ron DeSantis for the 2024 U.S. presidential election, giving $10 million to his campaign,[242] and hosted DeSantis's campaign announcement on a Twitter Spaces event.[243][244][245] From June 2023 to January 2024, Musk hosted a bipartisan set of X Spaces with Republican and Democratic candidates, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,[246] Vivek Ramaswamy,[247] and Dean Phillips.[248]