America's richest men openly endorse candidates

 　　Musk, the world's richest man, is "in rhythm" again.

　　He said he voted for Republican candidate Maya Florence in a Texas primary, saying "this is the first time I've voted for a Republican" and predicting "a strong 2022. The 'red tide'", which means the Republicans will win the midterm elections in November.

　　Fans immediately asked him who he'd support in the next presidential election, and Musk said "leaning on DeSantis."

　　Ron DeSantis is the governor of Florida who was endorsed by Trump and was elected as a conservative fighter from Harvard Law School. He is currently second only to Trump in the Republican presidential candidate list. He has not ruled out running for the next president.

　　DeSantis responded to Musk's "tendency": "Welcome to the support of African-Americans." African-Americans usually refer to black Americans. Musk was born in South Africa and could not run for president of the United States, but his parents both He's white, so DeSantis was kind of joking.

　　What everyone is more concerned about is the political turn of the richest man. Musk leaned toward the Democratic Party in the early years, and his high-profile statement now is similar to his support for Yang Anze (who has now left the Democratic Party) in the last general election, but after two years, Musk has a higher status, so he has received more attention.

　　There are many rich people in the United States, and many people run for president in person. Washington, Jefferson, and Madison during the founding of the People's Republic of China were all rich at the time, and their net worth was in the hundreds of millions in today's dollars; in recent decades, there are also people such as Rockefeller, Romney, and Bloomberg who have run for president. Including the successful election of Trump.

　　But the wealthy who have not been involved in politics are extremely cautious in electoral politics, and generally do not publicly express their support for elections. In fact, politicians don't want them to take their positions publicly either. In a society like the United States, many voters are very sensitive to "power-money collusion" and "money buying votes", hoping to block the pipeline of interests of the rich and politicians. Especially in recent years, the gap between the rich and the poor caused by the rapid development of technology billionaires has been extremely dazzling, and the endorsement of the rich may not be beneficial to the candidates.

　　Under such circumstances, most of the richest people in the United States rarely speak publicly in the field of public affairs, and it is even rarer to openly stand in the campaign. Only a few rich people, such as Buffett, Gates and others, often express their opinions on relatively safe topics such as social philanthropy, racial equality, and climate change. But they still won't talk about who they voted for and who they'll support in the next election.

　　The rich generally use "invisible" means, such as making low-key donations to candidates (usually betting on both sides, donating to both major parties), donating to lobbying companies, and influencing political elections and policy formulation. Even if they have to "expose" sometimes, they try to avoid suspicion.

　　For example, in the 2020 election, Oracle boss Ellison organized a banquet to donate to Trump, but he did not attend; former Microsoft CEO Ballmer, through his wife, donated to a campaign organization supporting Biden $500,000, but he made no donations himself.

　　Another point worth noting: A report in The Guardian in 2018 said that after a comprehensive and detailed investigation by the newspaper, although the super-rich, such as Buffett and Gates, tended to favor the Democratic Party, but from the Overall, the vast majority of the top 100 richest Americans support conservative Republicans, especially in terms of social welfare, tax policy and economic policy.

　　As U.S. politics polarize, some wealthy people have begun to express their positions publicly. Some openly endorse candidates, such as Peter Thiel, who supports Trump; others openly criticize White House policy, such as Bezos criticizing Trump and Biden. Musk is even more of a "leader" in this regard, and he almost publicly challenged Biden. With Musk's personality and influence, it is indeed worth observing whether his "public speaking" will cause some kind of group effect.