Elon Musk likes right-wing Texas ‘social policies’ – at least that’s what Greg Abbott says

Elon Musk delves into the tough right-wing policies of his new home state – or at least that’s what Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says.

On the day that a controversial near-total abortion ban went into effect in the state, Abbott relied on Musk’s support for Texas “social policies” to illustrate that he didn’t. not expect a negative reaction from the business community for the law. Abbott made the comments during an interview on CNBC Thusday.

“We keep seeing a massive influx of these employers into the state of Texas because, frankly, not only do they like the business environment, but they – you have to understand that there are a lot of businesses and a lot of businesses. “Americans who like the social positions the state of Texas takes,” Abbott said.

“Elon Musk, who I speak to frequently, had to leave California in part because of social policies in California. Elon constantly tells me that he likes the social policies of the state of Texas.”

And rather than disagree, Tesla CEO responded on Twitter by simply saying, “I’d rather stay out of politics.”

“In general, I believe that the government should seldom impose its will on the people and in doing so should aspire to maximize their cumulative happiness.”

Despite Musk’s statement, the high-profile businessman hasn’t exactly been silent on politics recently.

Tesla sued Alameda County in California in May of last year for passing a shelter-in-place rule to combat the rising number of COVID-19 cases and prevent a total collapse of a already strained health care system.

He later cited the incident as the “last straw,” which ultimately forced the company to move its headquarters out of California.

On the foreign policy front, Musk made sure to tweet “we’ll hit whoever we want” after a left-wing party seized power in Bolivia last October, the comments sparking fierce reactions online.

The controversial CEO has largely remained silent on the tax issue, although his move to Texas could potentially save him billions due to the fact that the state has neither income tax nor capital gains tax.

It wouldn’t matter much, apparently – an explosive statement released by ProPublica earlier this year showed Musk paid less than $ 70,000 in federal income taxes between 2015-2017 and exactly $ 0 in 2018. , putting it at an astronomically lower than average tax rate. American, regardless of income level.

He achieves this through a plan in which he forgoes his salary as CEO of Tesla and lives off loans taken against his huge equity in the company.

Musk also appears to be embracing the “social policies” of his new home state, just as Tesla tries to corner the electric truck market.

Pickup trucks are the best-selling type of vehicle in the United States, and Tesla’s all-new e-truck has the potential to be a huge money generator for the company if it can capture even one small part of the market for truck buyers. It’s no coincidence, either, Musk is embracing Texas, given that more than one in six microphones sold in the United States is purchased there.

It looks like Musk’s crafty vehicle marketing also seems to be working – reports suggest Tesla has received over 1 million pre-orders for his cyber truck.

Production was slated to start this year, but was eventually pushed back to 2022 last month.