Trump lashes out at Elon Musk after tech mogul says he voted for Biden

Mr Trump lashed out after Mr Musk said he did not vote for the ex-president in 2020

Musk Trump (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Former president Donald Trump appears quite unhappy with SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s declaration that he voted for President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

Mr Musk admitted to having voted for the 46th president over the 45th during a recent interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

"I didn't vote for Trump," he said. "I actually voted for Biden. I'm not saying I'm a huge fan of Biden, since that would be inaccurate."

Writing on his Truth Social site in response, Mr Trump claimed that he does not believe Mr Musk — who has repeatedly said in the past that he voted for Democrats, but has recently come out in support of the GOP.

“I don’t believe Elon Musk voted for Biden, not for a minute! He told me that he voted for me, but who knows about that, and who cares?” Mr Trump wrote.

Mr Trump then suggested that Mr Musk’s comments were a ploy to “make friends with the absolutely horrible Biden Administration because of all the government subsidies he gets, and all the permits he needs”.

“His space company, car company, battery company, tunnel company, and even Twitter, which was illegally controlled by the FBI, need government HELP & SUBSIDIES. HE IS JUST “MENDING FENCES!” the ex-president said.

It’s unclear why Mr Trump is claiming that Twitter, which until late last year was a publicly traded company, was “illegally controlled” by the FBI, but Mr Musk’s other ventures do receive significant assistance from the government.

Mr Musk’s rocket and space technology company, SpaceX, holds a contract to launch astronauts to the International Space Station and frequently launches government-owned satellite payloads. His electric car company, Tesla, also receives federal assistance in the form of tax credits as part of the federal government’s effort to encourage adoption of electric vehicles.