Elon WTF

I was sleepily skimming the news on Reddit at 1 AM when the following thread jolted me awake:

The "Pillow Guy" is Mike Lindell whose rise and fall should caution Elon. The short of it is that Mike was a vocal supporter of Trump, which damaged the MyPillow brand, which led to reduced demand, which led to losing shelf space at major retailers, which led to financial issues. People can vote with ballots and dollars, and businesses should remain aware of that.

The gist of the above thread is that Trump uses people for his own benefit and abandons them when he's juiced them for all they've got. The most infamous example might be when thousands of his supporters took it upon themselves to storm the Capitol Building in ₂₀₂₁ because Trump believed the election was rigged for him to lose. It didn't really pan out, and staggering 1575 people were charged with federal crimes as a result. Trump, in his second term, pardoned all of these people, so one might argue he didn't abandon them. However, pardoning them might just be a juicy ploy to reinforce his most fanatical supporters' faith in him—again, to his benefit. If he did care in a genuine, self-less way, why didn't he personally pay for his supporters' legal fees or provide financial support to their families?

It's only been a few weeks, but Elon's recent trajectory seems Lindell-coded. He campaigned, promoted, and donated to help elect Trump. It worked, but at the cost of Tesla falling from grace as the epitome of sustainable transport and becoming a warped symbol of fascism: in 2015, driving a Tesla meant you cared about the planet; in 2025, driving a Tesla feels like a political statement. A recent WSJ article outlines the erosion of Tesla's brand:

Garth Ancier, a TV executive from Los Angeles, recalled discussing more than a year ago with two fellow owners what it felt like to be seen in a Tesla. “They said, ‘You know, I’m getting uncomfortable driving this car around because it’s like driving a big red MAGA hat,’” Ancier said.

One of Elon's oft-repeated phrases is "The most ironic outcome is the most likely". Another variation is "fate loves irony". He recently shared a "funny" image depicting him as Irony Man...😐. Look closely and you'll find irony abound. (1) Elon has long chastised George Soros for his backdoor involvement influencing the government, yet he's an unelected official flying around in Air Force One and slashing public sector spending. (2) Speaking of which, a billionaire running multiple companies has no good reason to be firing people who help run National Parks. (3) The brilliant Jon Stewart recently invited Elon onto The Daily Show. Elon agreed to come on if the show aired unedited, then refused claiming that Stewart isn't "bipartisan" anymore. Stewart responded and hilariously pointed out the irony: "the guy who made his own Dark MAGA hat...with the President who he spent 270 hundred million to elect, thinks I'm just too partisan". What's the most ironic thing that could happen to Elon? Maybe he starts advocating for big oil companies. Maybe he gets prison time. Maybe he loses his citizenship. Whatever happens, Elon's convinced me it'll be ironic.

Charlie Munger astutely observed that he "would not bet against Elon, and that [he] wouldn't bet with him either". I personally don't think Elon's downfall is locked in. He has enough maneuverability to reverse course and rebuild goodwill. Really, all it would take is for him to distance himself from Trump, stop being melodramatic about everything, and make some cool shit for humanity.