Op-Ed: Musk interviews Trump – Who wants to listen to billionaires agreeing with each other?

Elon Musk (L) says he will not directly back Donald Trump (R) or Joe Biden, but his X feed makes clear that his support lies with the Republican – Copyright AFP/File Robyn BECK

Elon Musk isn’t a journalist. Trump isn’t good at answering hard questions and is highly erratic at best. The interview tonight sounds like a very soft time for Trump, as usual.

Exactly who wants to listen to billionaires agreeing with each other is debatable. This audience must be a very elusive demographic. It’s hard to envisage anything less relevant to anyone right now.

As America drowns in cost-of-living problems and social disasters, what will be the issues for discussion? Taxes? Immigrants? Those endless lefties nobody with an actual education ever notices?

This is very likely to be a talkfest banging away on the same abstract terrors only rednecks and sycophants seem to be worried about. Ha, ha, maybe.

When is an interview not an interview?

When nothing new or meaningful is said.

At that point, it becomes a commercial.

Trump’s main forte is bluster. He’s noisy. Musk’s forte is being Musk. Both have a healthy population of detractors they ignore.

They’re polar opposites otherwise. Musk is a competent business guy overall. Maybe not likeable but he has a track record of success. Trump doesn’t. Musk is hyper-solvent. Trump isn’t.

In billionaire ranking terms, there’s no comparison. The big tree is interviewing the lawn clippings.

Meaning Musk is doing Trump a very big favor. Musk knows perfectly well that he’s created the classic American drawcard, two celebrities talking to each other.

He doesn’t have to do Trump any favors. He’s already helped Trump by letting him back on X. That would be enough, you’d think. All the bots love having something to talk about.

Just for the record – If half your users are bots, it’s not a “social media” platform. It’s a joke, and a very bad one. Doesn’t look too good to advertisers who don’t sell to bots, either.

Meanwhile, back at the hootenanny:

Musk is just as polarizing as Trump most of the time. Just about everything he does attracts a dose of negativity in whatever sector he’s talking about. He was a visionary for a while, then a weirdo, then a mega-billionaire. Now, he’s the famous four-letter word “Musk” to people who have seen it all before.

That said – Musk has reach and clout that Trump will never have. He’s going to be around for decades, whether anyone likes it or not. That’s the main issue with this interview.

What is Musk trying to prove? He’s interviewing a heavily shielded guy who’s never been given a hard question since 2015.  “Unscripted” doesn’t mean much when the interviewee can’t stick to a script.

There are likely to be some content issues. Trump’s shallowness on so many subjects could be a PhD thesis. He’s not a good interviewee, even when “managed” through an interview. Like or loathe Musk, “shallow” isn’t usually one of the accusations.

This interview could be one of the great all-time duds. I doubt if Musk would appreciate such an outcome.

As the popcorn is served on the luxurious platter of America’s misery, so what?