# Elon Musk Using his Wealth to Threaten Politicians **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** elon-musk\ **Created:** [December 20, 2024, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918 "2024-12-20T14:10:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2025, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918/61 "2025-01-05T22:16:59Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > But as asked in a previous thread, can any amount of money guarantee the outcome of an election? It certainly help, but several recent elections- Harris outspend trump for example- has shown that money cant guarantee an election. > [@OldOlds](#): > > Of course I’m aware of this, but saying “Do this or I’ll fund a primary challenge” seems one more step beyond simply funding a message. This is what the MAGAs and trump have been doing for like 8 years- comply or get primaried out. > [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > We live in a republic, and specifically because the framers wanted to avoid the tyranny of the masses and rule by the uninformed. > > We do NOT live in a democracy We live in a republic form of democracy. > [@OldOlds](#): > > I really have to quibble with this. You see this a lot as justification for when some right group rams through an undemocratic law. We live in a democratic republic. Right. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918/62 "2025-01-06T12:39:13Z")
> From [BBC.co.uk](http://BBC.co.uk) > Then **this morning** , Musk wrote a flurry of posts on X criticising the UK government, with one poll asking: “America should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government (yes or no)”. The US must pass a law (heck, the repubs probably have enough states to make it an amendment) that twitter polls are definitive and binding as federal laws. And he’s been asking KCIII to dissolve parliament yet the King can only do that (now) if the Prime Minister “advises” him to. I didn’t go to school in the UK and I’ve no idea what blood diamond tycoons tutor their kids, yet I’m not the one asking the King to do something he can’t do. I have read the DoD has a planned outline for literally any war scenario one can think of. Plan(s) for invasion of the UK must be a thing that exists. Mind that the Republic of Ireland does have an army so you’ll have to fight them first if you want to stage a land invasion or even refuel armed bombers at Shannon. So naval blockade & siege it is. (Okay, mostly tongue-in-cheek though I do not think Musk is doing the same with his “whom to overthrow polls”) ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918/63 "2025-01-06T12:54:21Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > By rights if the Reform party grandees click their heels and say “yes fuhrer” and replace their leader with some equally reprehensible but Elmo-approved figurehead, it should doom their party. But that’s just not how the world works nowadays ☹ > > But still let’s take a moment to appreciate that odius toerag Farage getting screwed over by the very people he’s spent the last few months trying to impress. Well, except that the Reform ‘Party’ is actually a private company, whose majority shareholder is Nigel Farage. No one is replacing him. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918/64 "2025-01-06T13:46:45Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > A quick rundown, with translations for those not familiar with UK politics: Can you help with a little rundown on the controversy over these “rape gangs?” Specifically, what is the charge being levied against the government/politicians by the likes of Musk and how far afield these charges are? Actually, whether these Pakistani “rape gangs” are really a thing or just a fiction would be nice too. Thx ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918/65 "2025-01-06T14:57:26Z")
ChatGPT gave me a good summary from _“Can you summarize events around the “grooming gangs” in the UK?”_ but I’m not sure if we can post such responses? Meanwhile, my attempt at a quick summary: > **UK grooming gangs** > > My attempt at a quick version is that in 2010, in the town of Rotherham, 5 british-pakistani men were jailed for being part of a gang that took advantage of teenage girls from poor and vulnerable backgrounds, many underage, for the purposes of sex, _over decades_. Investigations found that there had been many catastrophic failures in policing, where many girls had spoken to police and not been taken seriously. > Many more convictions came in the years following, and, in the town of Rotherham, the perpetrators remained mostly asian men. > > The RW media jumped all over this, running stories about how “political correctness” (nowadays they would say “woke” of course) tied the hands of police. And emphasized over and over again that this was an issue amongst Pakistani men, stirring up racial hatred. And some initial investigations indeed continued to find this strong correlation, so members of the Conservative right heavily ran with this talking point. > > A large-scale investigation and review of data by the Home Office was published in 2020 and it showed that nationally, the majority of perpetrators were in fact white, indeed whites were slightly over-represented. And, while there had been staggering failures by the police there was no evidence that racial sensitivity had been an element of this. > > So: there’s been an inquiry, but we need another one to give the answer the RW papers want. ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918/66 "2025-01-06T14:58:31Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > Can you help with a little rundown on the controversy over these “rape gangs?” They’re a thing that Tommy Robinson and his ilk latched onto as a justification for their islamphobia and general racism. There was a problem with muslim gangs in Rotherham. But there have been a lot more white gangs exploiting young girls throughout the country. Tommy ignores those and just bangs on about the ones that fit his world view. The biggest reasons these cases weren’t investigated had little to do with fear of upsetting Muslims. It was down to a lack of resources and failing to believe what white working class girls were saying. Rape prosecutions are very low across the board. But the police didn’t want to waste time on cases where the girls looked like they were probably asking for it. (the police opinion, not mine.) > **[Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploitation_scandal)** > > The Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal consists of the organised child sexual abuse of girls that occurred in the town of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, Northern England, from the late 1980s until 2013 and the failure of local authorities to act on reports of the abuse throughout most of that period. Researcher Angie Heal, who was hired by local officials and warned them about child exploitation occurring between 2002 and 2007, has since described it as the "biggest child protection D... ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918/67 "2025-01-06T15:01:49Z")
Ah we simul-posted and @JacobSwan said it better than me 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918/68 "2025-01-06T15:11:46Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > the whole party is actually a private limited company Well now, that’s weird. Can you buy and sell such entities? If so, why won’t Musk just try to buy it outright? ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918/69 "2025-01-06T15:13:23Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Ah we simul-posted and @JacobSwan said it better than me 🙂 Great minds and LLMs think alike! I’d add that the two people that Musk has attacked have probably done more than any other politicians to bring succesful rape convictions. Keir Starmer spent his time as DPP trying to change the culture so that victims are believed more. And Jess Philips has been a very active MP raising cases of rape and violence against women. Before becoming an MP she worked for Womens Aid, so it’s a real passion for her. But they’ve spent their time raising the conviction rates for all rapists. Not just the brown ones that Tommy doesn’t like, therefore they are traitors in his eyes. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918/70 "2025-01-06T15:20:05Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Well now, that’s weird. Can you buy and sell such entities? If so, why won’t Musk just try to buy it outright? Yup that’s that’s definitely a likely outcome here. And would of course result in a massive payday for that slimebag Farage as primary shareholder. Again by rights that should make the party a laughingstock with less electoral support than the monster raving loony party, but the way the world is right now (and given the frankly awful state of both labour and tories right now) I wouldn’t bet on it ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918/71 "2025-01-06T15:20:27Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > From [BBC.co.uk](http://BBC.co.uk) > Then **this morning** , Musk wrote a flurry of posts on X criticising the UK government, with one poll asking: “America should liberate the people of Britain from their tyrannical government (yes or no)”. Dearie me. No, Elon, we do not need anyone to ‘liberate’ us, _especially_ not Conservative-America and extra-specifically not you. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918/72 "2025-01-06T15:26:28Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Yup that’s that’s definitely a likely outcome here. And would of course result in a massive payday for that slimebag Farage as primary shareholder. Damn, this feels like something straight out of _Snowcrash_, might as well let corporations just buy political parties outright. I’m sure that will work out fine. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918/73 "2025-01-06T17:04:19Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Well now, that’s weird. Can you buy and sell such entities? If so, why won’t Musk just try to buy it outright? Farage set up the company and is the majority shareholder. It isn’t a publicly traded company so Farage would have to agree to sell. Musk couldn’t do a hostile takeover. It still stinks that a corporate entity can masquerade as a political party though, no doubt about that. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918/74 "2025-01-06T17:12:14Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > the company and is the majority shareholder. It isn’t a publicly traded company so Farage would have to agree to sell And Farage being such a honest upstanding politician would never consider selling out his principles for an enormous pile of cash 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918/75 "2025-01-06T17:17:25Z")
> [@Coriolanus](#): > > So naval blockade & siege it is. He’d happily see the US excluded from Five Eyes intelligence and listening stations, Faslane and sundry air bases? He’s a worse military planner than I am. What a twit. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918/76 "2025-01-06T17:32:14Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Musk couldn’t do a hostile takeover. It still stinks that a corporate entity can masquerade as a political party though, no doubt about that. So why doesn’t Musk set up his own party? I mean, if you’re going to buy politicians, why not just hire them right up front? I mean, there have to be a few hundred people in the UK who would be willing to run for office just for the paycheck. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918/77 "2025-01-06T20:45:59Z")
I think he wants to break things; disruption is sort of his thing. He doesn’t want to compete within the existing framework of politics, he wants to break it so that something something Mars, Tunnels, Rocket, Money. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918/78 "2025-01-06T20:58:09Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > And Farage being such a honest upstanding politician would never consider selling out his principles for an enormous pile of cash But … he’d be doing it for the good of the country, because he is so patriotic. ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918/79 "2025-01-06T22:17:07Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > he is so patriotic. When I flew in from Ireland in 2016, I read about the buses that said stuff like £300 million a month going to the EU, as was the general message besides how immigrants had “… took our jobs!” (south park ref). Then I read about how Farage had not only gotten himself and his family Irish passports and somehow got to the head of the queue as there were lots of applications and a big backlog for what I’ve heard referred to often as the “Golden Passport”. (Plus I was often asked to 'splain Trump getting elected yet usually saying, “I hope he dies in jail” ended that line of query) I don’t recall prior “richest men in the world” being such assholes. I don’t mean Trump - if he had two million he’d lose it fast and go bankrupt and he never came close to being a billionaire. JP Morgan certainly bought off enough politicians to keep his empire growing. Dunno if Howard Hughes was particularly evil. Henry Ford was clever enough to make lots of money off WWII whether or not the USA got involved. The fictional Charles Foster Kane was not as evil as Hearst who couldn’t even threaten Hollywood enough not to release that picture. I’d be giving him ideas, yet why hasn’t Musk already made the movie of how he invented electric cars and rocket ships better than anyone else yet? He needs Leni Riefenstahl and we need another Orson Welles. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2025, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918/80 "2025-01-06T22:42:44Z")
So, I’ve come up with a Brilliant Plan, I call “The Musk Lottery”. We convince every politician in the world to just confiscate his money, and then we divvy it up into billion-dollar prize lots, and give away tickets. Most of the prizes are ear-marked for the politicians’ tickets (we need to bribe them to make this happen), but a few are saved for the masses, everyone (except Musk, of course) gets one ticket. And then we announce that we’re going to do this with The World Richest Person every 10 years. Watching the top 10 people trying to shed value in the last year, to avoid being #1 on December 31st will be hilarious. Hopefully this will keep a lid on these massive hundreds-of-billions net worths, so we never have to worry about one weirdo having this much personal power ever again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/elon-musk-using-his-wealth-to-threaten-politicians/1011918.md?page=5)