Elon Musk praises Poilievre, mocks Trudeau as he steps into Canadian politics

As an industrial giant and the richest man in the world, Elon Musk wields influence in the global economy. Now he is using that success to expand his influence on the democratic process in Canada and elsewhere.

In the past week alone, Musk has delved into Canadian politics several times on his social media platform; supporting the conservative leader Pierre Poillievre, showering him with praise, reposting his tweets and applauding his speeches and media interactions.

At the same time, he mocked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for his resignationborrowing President-elect Donald Trump’s language to refer to him as “governor.” They even call him Trudeau Anne “an intolerable instrument.”

The push for influence began in 2022, when he bought Twitter, renamed it X, and scrapped rules governing content moderation and misinformation. Describing the move as a defense of free speech, Musk quickly reinstated the accounts of Canadian influencer Jordan Peterson and President-elect Donald Trump.

He then spent more than $200 million supporting Trump’s successful campaign to reclaim the US presidency.

His reward? A role leading Trump’s proposed Department of Government Efficiency and, perhaps more importantly, the ear of the president-elect.

Despite having more than 210 million followers on his own platform and Trump’s friendship, Musk seems to want more ears than Trump’s and is stepping in political debates around the world.

“It’s about positioning yourself on the global stage as a quote-unquote thought leader who can rise above politics but also join in when it suits him,” said Andrew Chadwick, professor of political communication at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom.

“I think with Musk, (his advocacy) aligns with what he sees as political movements around the world that share his libertarian anti-government, anti-regulation, anti-legacy media ideology,” Chadwick told CBC News.

Chadwick says Poilievre’s promise to cancel online Liberal government damage legislation that conservatives say is too broad and risks infringing on free speech appeals to Musk, whom he describes as an “ideological platform mogul.”

Christopher Cochrane, a professor of political science at the University of Toronto, thinks it may just be “vanity” that forces Musk to engage in political debates at home and abroad.

“It’s remarkable that he was able to buy an entire social media network, almost like an alternate universe, and turn it into his own playground and place to expand his political views,” he said.

“Just as he was able to figure out electric cars and build a successful rocket company … he just figured out another area that other people weren’t smart enough or brave enough or brave enough or whatever to have solved,” said Cochrane. “There’s an element of hubris in that.”

To be fair to Musk, Cochrane says “it would be hard not to be overconfident when you’ve had the success he’s had with PayPal and Tesla and SpaceX and all the other things.”

Cochrane explained that Musk was able to be heard not only because he was rich, but also because people might think that his success naturally carried over into other areas.

“Obviously there are people who have great and very high levels of political sophistication who don’t know anything about rockets and electric cars, and there are certainly a lot of people who know a lot about rockets and electric cars who don’t have very high political sophistication.” Cochran said. “That’s what’s going on here.”

Chadwick has been watching Musk closely in recent months as the X owner began to enter British politics, first backing Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party and then in recent days turning against him when Farage refused support far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

He says that as far as Musk’s interest in Canada is concerned, his posts on X are very closely related to Trump’s comments and the attacks the president-elect has leveled at its northern neighbor.

“It’s important to see this as part of an alignment between Musk’s interests as a media owner, a platform owner, and the Trump administration,” he said.

Chadwick says the irony of Musk’s editorial positions is that when social media platforms emerged, their founders went out of their way to argue that they shouldn’t be held to the same standards as media organizations.

“Yet here we have a platform owner with 210 million followers who is now willing to use that platform to advance his own political views,” he said.

In Germany, Musk has endorsed far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) leader Alice Weidel, who is a fierce critic of multiculturalism. Some prominent members of the AfD have been ostracized for their failure to condemn Nazi war crimes.

Last year, a German court declared the AfD officially suspected of extremism, allowing German security services to continue monitoring its activities and communications.

Musk was accused in Germany of interference in that country’s upcoming elections on February 23 for his support for the AfD and promises to host a live interview on X with Weidel on January 9.

Cochrane says that, by comparison, Musk’s interest in Canada has been much more benign.

“He controls an awfully large platform and has a pretty huge audience. Things aren’t going well for Canada either, so if he’s focused here on promoting Pierre Poilievre, that’s not the worst thing he could do,” Cochrane said.