Elon Musk appears to have deleted posts urging Americans to back Republicans in the midterm elections, after a night in which Democrats won high-profile races, including the Texas Senate race.
Democrat James Talarico claimed victory onstage in Texas, beating Republican Ken Paxton, whom Musk had backed. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed also won his race.
What posts did Musk delete?
Social media users have screenshotted posts that appear to show Musk urging people to “vote red today.” They are no longer available to view. According to Forbes, X’s AI chatbot Grok confirmed that Musk deleted the Election Day post and at least one earlier pinned message calling on people to vote Republican.
The removed posts include a pinned message from October 29. Online sleuths say Musk took it down early Wednesday, November 4, after the Texas results came in. The Associated Press reported that Talarico won shortly after 11 PM ET on Tuesday, hours before the posts reportedly disappeared.
One user wrote that Musk had forgotten how easily posts get screenshotted. They shared a video of his profile, which shows the posts, but clicking on them brings up a “nothing here to see – yet” notice.
What else did Musk post?
While the results came in, Musk’s profile was seen reposting analysis of the election. Around 1 AM, he wrote, “Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time.” He had also posted, “Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now.”
On Wednesday morning, he responded to a user who wrote that voters had agreed with Republicans on every policy at issue, then voted Democrat. Musk said Voter ID had failed in California, a reference to voters rejecting a ballot measure that would have required a government-issued photo ID to vote in person.
How much did Musk spend?
Forbes reported that Elon Musk spent around $458 million supporting conservative candidates in the House and Senate races. According to the Federal Election Commission, the money went to 106 Republican candidates and aligned causes, including the Texas Senate race, the Senate Leadership Fund, and key House battlegrounds in New York, New Jersey, and Iowa.
By Wednesday, only 19 of those 106 candidates had won, 47 had lost, and 40 races had yet to be called. Other reports put his total giving higher. The New York Times counted about $474 million and estimated that around $224 million of it went to Texas groups alone.
What happened to Musk’s net worth?
Musk’s net worth reportedly fell by $23.7 billion on Wednesday, as shares in Tesla and SpaceX both dropped.
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