Elon Musk told biographer that Trump is 'the world champion of bullshit'
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- Elon Musk told his biographer that he's "not Trump's fan."
- Musk, according to Walter Isaacson's new book, also called the former president "the world champion of bullshit."
- According to Isaacson, Musk approached Trump's election with cautious optimism that later vanished.
Elon Musk told his biographer that he was no fan of Donald Trump after it became clear after his election that the wild statements he gave during the 2016 presidential election were not act.
"Trump might be one of the world's best bullshitters," Musk told Walter Isaacson, according to Isaacson's "Elon Musk." "Like my dad. Bullshitting can sometimes baffle the brain. If you just think of Trump as a sort of con-man performance, then his behavior makes sense."
Isaacson tries to trace Musk's politics throughout the book, noting how he once waited in line for six hours to shake President Barack Obama's hand before somewhat endorsing House Republicans ahead of the 2022 midterms. Musk's biographer also tries to trace the billionaire's relationship with Trump, which began with cautious optimism after the 2016 presidential election and slowly morphed into a disgust for what Isaacson described as "buffoonery."
"He seems kind of nuts, but he may turn out to be okay," Musk said after talking with then-President-elect Trump both with fellow tech CEOs and later in a private meeting.
Musk would later join White House councils but would ultimately leave the advisory boards following Trump's decision to pull the US out of the Paris Climate Accord.
After he bought Twitter, there was speculation that Musk would move quickly to unban the now-former president after Trump was kicked off the platform following the January 6 Capitol riot. Musk told Isaacson that he was completely prepared to leave Trump's ban in place if a public poll about the future of the ban went in another direction. After more than 15 million votes, Twitter users voted narrowly in favor of lifting the ban.
"I'm not Trump's fan," Musk told Isaacson. "He's disruptive. He's the world champion of bullshit."