Elon Musk has recently shocked his fans after public endorsing Rex Tillerson earlier this week. Tillerson is Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of State. This move has led many to believe that the Tesla CEO might be trying to get on the US President's good side.
Musk has been a fierce advocate of energy conservation and lowering carbon emissions since day one. His strong determination to promote clean energy is all the more apparent with his electric vehicle company Tesla Motors, Inc. and solar-power firm SolarCity Corp. This has earned him a legion of fans and supporters who all feel the same way. Many of these fans are also anti-Trump.
In the past, the Silicon-Valley CEO has publicly opposed Trump's Candidacy. However, earlier this week, Elon Musk shocked everyone with his announcement. The electric-vehicle CEO retweeted The Economist and wrote "@The Economist This may sound surprising coming from me, but I agree with The Economist. Rex Tillerson has the potential to be an excellent Sec of State."
@TheEconomist This may sound surprising coming from me, but I agree with The Economist. Rex Tillerson has the potential to be an excellent Sec of State.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 24, 2017
Tillerson was the CEO and Chairman of Exxon Mobil Corp. which is the epitome of Big Oil. This is the industry that Musk strongly opposes especially considering he is the CEO of the leading electric vehicle manufacturing company. Everyone was shocked by his announcement.
When asked about his sudden praise of Tillerson by Bloomberg News reporter Dana Hull, Musk responded that Trump's nominee for Secretary of State should be given the benefit of the doubt. Musk even tweeted, "Rex is an exceptionally competent executive, understands geopolitics and knows how to win for his team. His team is now the USA."
Prior to the elections, Musk had previously said that "Trump is probably not the right guy." However, now it would appear that Tesla Motors' CEO is trying to get on his good side. His recent actions have drawn a lot of backlash from his environmentalist fans immediately questioning what they promised him.
Why has Elon Musk suddenly changed his tune towards Tillerson and Donald Trump? His tweets may have been innocent and random but it has caused a lot to recently questioning of the Tesla Motors CEO. In addition, it might hurt his company and leave his die-hard fans feeling alienated.
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