3 ms·

I'm just guessing here, but I assume Musk realised what Trump did some years ago: > “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I would

by muglug 4y ago

I'm just guessing here, but I assume Musk realised what Trump did some years ago: > “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters,” he said. A large percentage of Musk's followers are devoted to him and to whatever he says his cause is on any given day. He can move the goalposts and they'll cheer him for it.

dale_glass 4y ago
I think Musk will have a lot more trouble with that logic than Trump did. People who like Trump like his usual behavior, with all its crassness. People who like Musk mostly liked his former behavior: building electric cars, launching rockets into space and talking about saving humanity, and tried to sweep his public behavior under the rug as much as possible. That's no longer working very well. People who'd formerly be proud to own a Tesla are now starting to have second thoughts.
- tailspin2019 4y ago
  My second thoughts on buying a Tesla started a few years ago now when following a car crash involving a Tesla, they would start to publicly blame the actions of the (sometimes dead) driver (aka “their customer”) based on their “logs” - when there was a clear incentive for them to find the first possible thing that they could point to, to indicate driver error rather than, for example, an autopilot error. Even if they were technically right in some cases, this just seemed to be in such poor taste, often impossible to verify, and just felt wrong on so many levels. And poor PR and a disproportionate focus on Tesla in the media is not a good enough excuse. I can’t help thinking that it’s another example of Elon’s reactionary thin skin mentality driving company policy.
gorbachev 4y ago
His antics with Twitter has definitely changed the public perception of him, even on Hacker News. It's much, much more negative and the uncritical adulation of the wonder boy is almost non-existent these days. The cheering section is shrinking every day, and it's entirely his own doing.
- pessimizer 4y ago
  The thing that changed perceptions of him was that the media that spent all of its time praising and adoring him for being rich, suddenly called two-minutes hate after he took control of a Democratic Party and administration aligned media outlet and threatened to loosen that control. I can't stand billionaires and would smile if Musk died in a fire, and I resent the government-fueled blackshirts that are forcing me to constantly defend him. Musk is this week's Hitler for the wealthy upper middle-class center-left and their stupid children.
- nickthegreek 4y ago
  But the cheering section does have a floor, just like Trump. It literally doesnt matter his behavior, that cheering section will still sell out.

by muglug 4y ago

dale_glass 4y ago

I think Musk will have a lot more trouble with that logic than Trump did. People who like Trump like his usual behavior, with all its crassness. People who like Musk mostly liked his former behavior: building electric cars, launching rockets into space and talking about saving humanity, and tried to sweep his public behavior under the rug as much as possible. That's no longer working very well. People who'd formerly be proud to own a Tesla are now starting to have second thoughts.

tailspin2019 4y ago
My second thoughts on buying a Tesla started a few years ago now when following a car crash involving a Tesla, they would start to publicly blame the actions of the (sometimes dead) driver (aka “their customer”) based on their “logs” - when there was a clear incentive for them to find the first possible thing that they could point to, to indicate driver error rather than, for example, an autopilot error. Even if they were technically right in some cases, this just seemed to be in such poor taste, often impossible to verify, and just felt wrong on so many levels. And poor PR and a disproportionate focus on Tesla in the media is not a good enough excuse. I can’t help thinking that it’s another example of Elon’s reactionary thin skin mentality driving company policy.

gorbachev 4y ago

His antics with Twitter has definitely changed the public perception of him, even on Hacker News. It's much, much more negative and the uncritical adulation of the wonder boy is almost non-existent these days. The cheering section is shrinking every day, and it's entirely his own doing.

pessimizer 4y ago
The thing that changed perceptions of him was that the media that spent all of its time praising and adoring him for being rich, suddenly called two-minutes hate after he took control of a Democratic Party and administration aligned media outlet and threatened to loosen that control. I can't stand billionaires and would smile if Musk died in a fire, and I resent the government-fueled blackshirts that are forcing me to constantly defend him. Musk is this week's Hitler for the wealthy upper middle-class center-left and their stupid children.
nickthegreek 4y ago
But the cheering section does have a floor, just like Trump. It literally doesnt matter his behavior, that cheering section will still sell out.