IT WAS THE most indelible image of the 2024 presidential campaign: Donald Trump on a stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, right fist raised in defiance over a scrum of Secret Service agents, blood streaming from a bullet wound to the ear, shouting, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
One of the millions of people moved by that moment was the world’s richest man, the industrialist and futurist Elon Musk. Musk—America’s most famous immigrant—runs, among other companies, Tesla, which sells the majority of electric cars in the U.S.; SpaceX, developer of the first-ever reusable booster rocket and also the only reliable transport for astronauts to and from the International Space Station; and X (formerly known as Twitter), one of the globe’s most-discussed and influential social media platforms.
In the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt, Musk publicized what until then had been a more of a private affair: his enthusiastic support for a return to the White House of a man of whom he had previously been frequently intensely critical.
Thus the stage was set for a second indelible campaign image, one that may prove more telling about the practical import of the 2024 election. In October, Trump was back in Butler at the scene of the crime, paying respects to the slain rally attendee Corey Comperatore and urging his supporters to fight-fight-fight until Election Day.
Behind him, airborne, giddy, and goofy, bounced the world's most successful civilian, reducing himself to a dignity-free cheerleader for a politician he once dismissed as a "con man." It was the dance that launched a thousand derisive memes, but it also arguably purchased key White House access for an influential figure with a gigantic megaphone, who in his public life has nurtured, acted upon, and celebrated many contrarian political ideas, some of them libertarian.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
THE REAL THREAT IS AN ISOLATED CHINA
DECOUPLING FROM TRADE WILL MAKE THE U.S. POORER AND CHINA MORE TOTALITARIAN.
Against Our Own Best Souls'
SISTER HELEN PREJEAN ON HERLIFE ASA WITNESS ON DEATH ROW
'THE POLITICS HAVE COME TO US'
HOW A CHRISTIAN CHARITY IN EL PASO ENDED UP AT WAR WITH THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT FOR HELPING UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS
MATERIEL LOSS
HOW THE U.S. MILITARY BUSTS ITS BUDGET ON WASTEFUL, CARELESS, AND UNNECESSARY 'SELF-LICKING ICE CREAM CONES'
'NOT A SUICIDE PACT'
HOW A 1949 SUPREME COURT DISSENT GAVE BIRTH TO A MEME THAT SUBVERTS FREE SPEECH AND CIVIL LIBERTIES
HOW MUSK CAN HELP TRUMP CUT TRILLIONS
DURING PRESIDENT DONALD Trump’s first term in office, the national debt increased by $8 trillion—due, in large part, to huge spending hikes that Congress passed and Trump signed.
A Free-Range Family
RIGHT NOW, CHILDHOOD is intensely meh. Maybe you read the recent report in The Journal of Pediatrics that said that as kids' independence and free play have gone down, their anxiety and depression have been going up.
Educulture Wars
THE CULTURE WAR is costing school districts billions, according to a report released in October 2024 by the UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access. The report surveyed superintendents at 467 school districts nationwide about extra expenditures they undertook because of increased conflict over culture war issues such as critical race theory, book chal- lenges, gender-related debates, and other politicized topics. The report estimates that such fights cost school districts around $3.2 billion during the 2023-2024 school year.
Q&A Penny Lane
PENNY LANE'S NEW Netflix documentary, Confessions of a Good Samaritan, delves into her life-changing decision to donate a kidney to a stranger. Known for her thoughtful and provocative storytelling, Lane has explored human connection and empathy in films such as Hail Satan? and The Pain of Others. Last October she spoke with Reason's Nick Gillespie and shared her emotional, physical, and philosophical experience with anonymous kidney donation and the challenges that came with it.