Capital Securities News Bureau reported on June 5th (Editor Ma Lan) that Bannon, considered the key figure in pushing Trump to the presidency of the United States in the 2016 election, is now attacking Musk, who plays a crucial role in the 2024 U.S. presidential election for Trump's campaign.
Bannon was a senior strategic advisor during Trump's previous term. He pointed out that he had previously suggested to Trump to regard Musk as an illegal immigrant and initiate an investigation. He also suggested that Trump should cancel public contracts between Musk's companies and the federal government.
On Thursday, Trump and Musk reignited their long-standing verbal sparring on social media, marking what seems to be another deadlock in their relationship. Not long ago, Musk attended Trump's presidential inauguration with great fanfare and became an informal advisor to Trump, leading the Department of Government Efficiency to carry out sweeping reforms of the U.S. federal government.
After resigning from his position as head of the Department of Government Efficiency last week to fully return to his role as Tesla CEO, Musk almost immediately changed his stance on certain policies of the Trump administration, particularly the controversial "Build Back Better" Act. Musk's shocking call this week for the public to urge the Senate to "kill" the "Build Back Better" Act has drawn dissatisfaction from both the White House and Republicans.
Bannon, a recent Trump ally to criticize Musk, criticized Musk's betrayal of Trump according to media reports, accusing him of undermining the "Build Back Better" Act, thereby affecting Trump's economic agenda.
Overestimating Himself
In a sense, Bannon can be seen as Musk's predecessor. After financing Trump's victory in the 2016 election, he served as Chief Strategist and Presidential Advisor at the White House in the new government in January of the following year. However, Bannon left the National Security Council on April 5th of the same year and resigned from his position at the White House in August to return to the private sector.
In an interview with the media, Bannon stated that he predicted months ago that the relationship between Trump and Musk would not last long and warned Trump to be wary of Musk. In his view, Musk is one of the most untrustworthy among a group of self-interested tech billionaires.
Bannon emphasized that many billionaires allied with Trump for various wrong reasons but never participated in or agreed with Trump's MAGA (Make America Great Again) initiative.
He pointed out that Musk's approach to the "Build Back Better" Act was not adjustment but destruction. Many Republican senators could not fully agree with the bill either, but their approach was to push for further modifications rather than outright rejection like Musk did. This means Musk does not care whether Trump achieves critical legislative accomplishments in his second term.
Secondly, Musk seems to have misjudged the influence return he could get from his investment in the 2024 election. Bannon said that Trump is historically one of the least responsible political figures regarding donations, and Musk thought giving him a big check would make him feel at home in the new government, but Trump is not that kind of person.
Bannon also hinted that Musk's current criticism of Trump might be in favor of Democrats who are estranged from Tesla. Democrats may also be willing to accept this unexpected benefit to strengthen their attacks on Trump, as several Democratic lawmakers have cited Musk's criticisms of Trump.
However, playing both sides between Republicans and Democrats may not have any positive impact on Musk's political career. A Trump aide privately expressed that Musk demonstrated how weak his political strength is; he has money but almost no followers.
(By Ma Lan from Capital Securities News Bureau)
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7512650692251681289/
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