Elon Musk Denies Trump Asked Him For Money During Recent Chance Encounter
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk is insisting a latest encounter he had with former President Donald Trump was unplanned and that the previous president and presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee didn’t ask him for cash or a mortgage.
The previous CNN host requested Mr. Musk to explain his dialog with President Trump, to which Mr. Musk stated, “I used to be at a breakfast at a pal’s place and Donald Trump got here by, that’s it.”
Mr. Lemon once more requested Mr. Musk what he mentioned with the previous president.
“Let’s simply say he did a lot of the speaking,” Mr. Musk stated, including that the previous president stated “the traditional issues he says.” The Tesla and SpaceX CEO added that there “was nothing notably groundbreaking” mentioned throughout the dialog and “I don’t recall him saying something that he hasn’t stated publicly.”
Mr. Lemon then repeatedly requested Mr. Musk whether or not they had mentioned any marketing campaign donations or whether or not the previous president requested for a mortgage to assist with authorized payments arising from a variety of civil and felony litigation he’s concerned in.
“Are you going to mortgage him cash to assist pay his payments?” Mr. Lemon requested.
“No,” Mr. Musk replied.
“Under no circumstances; pay his authorized payments?” Mr. Lemon reiterated.
“I’m not paying paying his authorized payments in any means, form, or type,” Mr. Musk stated.
“And he didn’t ask you for cash?” Mr. Lemon adopted up.
“And he didn’t ask me for cash,” Mr. Musk replied.
The New York Instances first reported that Mr. Musk met with the previous president and main Republican candidate throughout a March 3 encounter by which a number of rich Republican donors have been additionally stated to be in attendance. The publication reported, citing three nameless sources who have been allegedly briefed concerning the interplay, that the previous president was “urgently in search of a money infusion to assist his presidential marketing campaign.”
In his interview with Mr. Lemon, Mr. Musk made no indication that there have been any further folks on the breakfast interplay in addition to his pal and the previous president.
Within the interview, Mr. Musk indicated he’s additionally ready till afterward within the election cycle to contemplate donations and endorsements for both of the 2 main candidates however added, “I’m leaning, leaning away from Biden.”
X Cuts Ties With Lemon
Mr. Lemon’s repeated questions on Mr. Musk’s interplay with President Trump have been only one portion in a wide-ranging interview spanning greater than an hour.
Mr. Lemon had really partnered with Mr. Musk’s X social media platform following his firing from CNN final yr, however that enterprise association seems to have ended shortly after he wrapped up his interview with the businessman.
Throughout their interview, Mr. Lemon stated Mr. Musk posts “quite a lot of controversial stuff” on the X and requested if he’s absolutely sober when he makes many of those posts. Mr. Musk stated he doesn’t drink and admitted to having “one puff” of smoked marijuana with podcast host Joe Rogan in 2018, to which Mr. Lemon then introduced up the truth that Mr. Musk has a prescription for Ketamine, a psychoactive anesthetic that has seen rising use as a remedy for despair.
Mr. Lemon requested Mr. Musk about his Ketamine prescription, to which Mr. Musk replied that “it’s fairly non-public to ask someone a couple of medical prescription” however then admitted he makes use of it below a physician’s care to “get out of a unfavourable state of mind.” Mr. Lemon then requested Mr. Musk if he ever felt like he abused his Ketamine prescription. He additionally requested if Mr. Musk was frightened that this Ketamine use might undermine the power of his varied firms to contract with the U.S. authorities.
At one other level within the interview, Mr. Lemon argued with Mr. Musk about whether or not and the diploma to which Democrats could also be enabling unlawful immigration to enhance to bolster their place within the U.S. electoral political system. Mr. Musk argued that even when unlawful immigrants aren’t in a position to vote, their presence in the USA counts towards congressional apportionment and the electoral school vote, and recommended Democrats would possibly lose as many as 20 congressional seats and electoral school votes if the apportionment course of solely included U.S. residents versus all folks in the USA.
At different factors within the interview, Mr. Lemon broached Mr. Musk’s views on range, fairness, and inclusion (DEI) applications. Mr. Musk stated if company hiring requirements are being lowered to accommodate extra office range, they might compromise their high quality and security requirements, probably risking folks’s lives. Mr. Lemon repeatedly insisted “there’s no proof” that DEI applications are leading to declining requirements, to which Mr. Musk disagreed and stated, “I consider that could be a false assertion that you’re making.”
Throughout one other debate about racism, transgenderism, and “wokeness,” Mr. Musk expressed frustration that Mr. Lemon was misrepresenting his views on these points, saying, “You retain placing phrases in my mouth.”
Towards the tip of the interview, Mr. Lemon additionally questioned Mr. Musk concerning the difficulty of censorship and content material moderation on social media platforms. Mr. Lemon stated Mr. Musk’s desire for much less restrictive content material moderation practices “has made the X much less interesting to advertisers” and led some firms to drag their advertisements off the platform.
At a number of different factors close to the tip of the interview, Mr. Lemon stated Mr. Musk appeared upset along with his traces of questioning. Mr. Lemon alleged X canceled his partnership with the platform on account of this interview.
X has stated Mr. Lemon stays welcome to publish his content material on the platform however stated it has determined towards coming into “right into a business partnership” with the previous CNN host “after cautious consideration” of the association.