Unite the Right 2.0: Trump and Musk Chat
Two billionaires discuss politics and a whole lot of people think they’re speaking for our broke asses while far-right extremists gather to listen in
The much talked about X (formerly Twitter) Spaces chat between former president Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk happened on Monday and it was something. I’m not sure what, but it was definitely something that looked and smelled an awful lot like a pile of manure. A big pile. I tried to listen but I didn’t last too long as I can’t stand to hear the pandering to the racist white man.
Besides, it was nonsensical. I felt like I was getting dumber by the second.
They discussed everything from immigration and abolishing the Department of Education to some weird fantasy about Trump escaping to Venezuela with Musk should he lose the election. However, I can find no better recent example of how normalized bigotry has become. While it's no surprise that most billionaires are like this, these two are public about it and have massive audiences.
This was Unite the Right all over again but instead of a riot in the streets, they did it publicly on social media. While there’s much to laugh at, it behooves us to pay attention to their intentions and the impacts those motivations can and most likely will have on all of us. There’s no question that the worst people society has to offer no longer have to hide and can be found on Musk’s Twitter. Because of that, bringing them together is far easier than organizing a hate march in Charlottesville.
Sure, the job has been made a little more efficient for those of us who track hate groups, their movements, and their actions, but it’s also much easier for billionaires to coordinate a hate convention too. If this is starting to sound like the U.S. Civil War where the wealthy convinced racists to go to battle against their neighbors, that’s exactly what it is.
Not to say that a civil war is coming, but we are in the midst of a cultural war and these are some of the most prominent people behind it. While much of my work involves tracking the funding of hate groups and bigoted political institutes, there’s no question about whose toes Trump is sucking for that campaign money right now.
Just add Musk to the host of billionaires buying influence with the former president.
Musk, whose financial success came not just from his family owning an emerald mine in South Africa, but from tons of government subsidies, grants, tax breaks, and technology, is clearly embracing Trump to benefit his personal and corporate interests. Most of us can see the white silver spoon nepo baby boys trying to convince the public that they’re one of us. But far too many conservatives are buying into it.
Never in history have the ultra-wealthy been on the side of the people. NEVER.
Trump, Musk Thiel, and many more billionaires are no different. Anyone trying to convince you otherwise has blinders on. The MAGA movement has proven to be a grift that has played on and exacerbated racial tensions in the U.S. and abroad. The normalization of hate in the United States has only helped bolster similar movements overseas.
There is no question that support for Trump comes from implicit and explicit racists who want to act like victims. They believe as he does in thinking anyone who isn’t a cis-gendered white male is inferior to them. These are the same white voters who want to pretend that the racist white extinction conspiracy theory proves that they are being victimized by Jews as much as nonwhite communities have been by white people for centuries in the Americas.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but white people are not oppressed.
Despite this fact, Musk and Trump have been playing on fears of the browning of America, drag queens, immigrants, satanism, and so much more. Trump and his cohort JD Vance employed outright racism and misogynoir against Kamala Harris because his strategy against her is dead on arrival. He has since opted to employ his dog whistle strategy from 2016.
The latest one was found in a recent video on Trump’s social media. When he says, “The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer,” he’s talking to white people who think they are being left behind due to their view of wokeness - which none can coherently define. He’s pandering to those who want to be victims so they can say to nonwhite people, “See, it’s not racist because it happens to us too,” regarding just about every issue in the U.S.
Racist white people like to argue that everything from police brutality to redlining isn’t based on race just like they argue Trump isn’t racist even after they find out he was sued decades ago for not renting to Black people, Latinos, and Jewish people. They point to his donation to Black candidates as if he didn't do that to try and clear his name of those accusations.
Meanwhile, any rational person can see it from a mile away.
As the far-right conservative movement that has taken over the Republican party celebrates their talk and as liberals laugh at the whole debacle (as they should), keep in mind that the event served as a gathering place where bigots picked up talking points and will create their own narratives from there to push their White Christian nationalist agenda of hate.
It will come with little surprise to hear of attacks against marginalized people by a culprit echoing their words as we have seen so often in the past. This was undoubtedly Unite the Right 2.0.
Stay vigilant and vote.
I’m a freelance journalist for The Antagonist Magazine and Unicorn Riot. Find me on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support my work become a paid subscriber or donate on Venmo, PayPal, or CashApp