Billionaire Elon Musk was widely mocked after he couldn't explain why he believes New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is a "charismatic swindler" and struggled to form a coherent sentence during an appearance on conservative pundit Joe Rogan's podcast.
Musk appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience just before Tuesday's election result, which saw Mamdani, a democratic socialist, beat back the establishment despite months of racist and Islamophobic attacks from the right-wing.
Musk, who endorsed former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the race, said the following about Mamdani:
"You've got to hand it to him, he can light up a stage. But he's been a swindler his entire life. And he's likely to win. Likely to be mayor of New York City."
But when Rogan asked Musk to elaborate, Musk could not, stuttering considerably before fumbling his way through the following answer:
"If you say to any audience, whatever that audience wants to hear, instead of having a consistent message, I would say that that is a swindly thing to do."
After a long pause, he conceded that Mamdani "is charismatic."
You can hear what Musk said—or tried to say—in the video below.
The reason Musk provided for why people shouldn't support Mamdani is funny because he's describing actions straight out of President Donald Trump's playbook.
Trump has from the beginning of his political ascendancy told people what they want to hear without ever outlining coherent policy proposals or offering concrete evidence that he is out to improve people's lives rather than enrich himself, avoid imprisonment for his many crimes, and punish his political opponents.
Even now, amid the longest government shutdown in history—the shutdown that previously held the record happened during his first administration—Trump has not offered so much as "concepts of a plan" as the GOP allows healthcare subsidies to expire and permits more than 42 million people to go hungry now that the SNAP benefits have lapsed.
A "swindler" is also someone who deceives people out of money or possessions... and that certainly describes a president who has been convicted or found liable for fraudulent activities on numerous occasions.
Every accusation is a confession, as critics pointed out, and Musk's failure to offer a coherent explanation said it all.
We're still waiting, Elon.
