Elon Musk has fired back in the war of words between himself and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader. Musk argues that his reputation and record speak far louder than Nader’s criticism.
The current conflict started when Nader stated that the SpaceX and Tesla founder was only successful through government support.
Nader wrote last week that the billionaire “started Tesla with a huge U.S. government welfare grant.” Nader also wrote that Musk “is a gigantic corporate welfare king masquerading as a capitalist businessman.”
Musk fired back, writing that his efforts had actually benefitted taxpayers. The company was founded with nearly all of its funding from himself, the mogul said. He added that taxpayers profited from Tesla repaying a government loan, which the company paid back with interest.
The tech mogul pushed back especially hard against the criticism from the former consumer advocate. Nader, a former Green Party presidential nominee, gained notoriety due to his belief that the Chevrolet Corvair was unsafe.
However, Nader’s criticism may be due to other reasons, entirely
Ralph Nader, you are lying – shame on you! I personally provided almost all Tesla funding, based on my proceeds from PayPal, from Series A in 2004 until Series C in 2007.
In late 2008, I gave Tesla the last money I had. It was that or the company would have died. We closed that… https://t.co/fi2GdWER0d
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 24, 2023
Nader’s significant profile was not backed by substantial facts. Musk argues that his efforts come without a profit motive, including providing the internet service Starlink in Ukraine. Musk’s donation of the service led him to tweet that it was the “communication backbone of Ukraine.”
Furthermore, Musk’s control over Twitter coincided with a major opening of the tech giant’s communications, showing a significant prior bias in favor of left-wing causes. Conservative critics believe that the Twitter FIles exposed the extent of cooperation between Twitter’s old guard and the Democratic Party.
Elon Musk has come under significant criticism since he purchased the social media platform. Furthermore, his criticism of the political left has brought out a number of left-wing elected officials and activists against the tech magnate.
