‘A government for billionaires, by billionaires:’ Adam Conover explains what another Trump presidency would look like
Donald Trump isn’t the only person who “won” in the 2024 presidential election. Comedian and writer Adam Conover explained why Elon Musk and the rest of the billionaire class stand to gain from a Trump victory.
On YouTube, Conover accused Elon Musk of buying Twitter for the sake of power. In turn, Conover argued that it gave Musk the ability to shape narratives in favor of Trump. After Trump won, other billionaires congratulated him and Elon Musk. Conover remarked, “What we are about to live under is a government by billionaires, for billionaires.”
In the video, Conover also explored why the working class decided to vote for Donald Trump. Nevermind that he’s a billionaire being promoted by another billionaire. It doesn’t make sense from a rational standpoint, but as Conover puts it, “Feelings don’t care about the facts.” It’s a witty subversion of Ben Shapiro’s quote, but it rings true for voters who decided to vote against the Biden Administration. Conover explained that the crushing inflation that the Biden Administration was unable to curb caused Harris’ loss.
Inflation was the election’s tipping point
Trump seemingly listened to the grievances of the working class and made the issue of inflation front and center of his campaign. As he’d always state during his rallies, he promised to “defeat inflation.” Trump then conveniently blamed undocumented immigrants for stealing jobs from American citizens. This made it seem as if migrant workers were causing the problems—not the old tariffs he enforced, and not the trade war he ignited against China. What mattered was that people were willing to believe the story.
Now with Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy at the helm of a “government efficiency drive,” federal agencies are expected to be shut down to “save millions of dollars.” Musk has his own self-interests in influencing US policies, such as reducing bureaucracies that can hold him accountable for preventing unionization among Tesla workers. If Americans were already concerned about inflation, they should be worried about their job security next. A second Trump administration isn’t for regular Americans, but a government for corporate vultures.
Conover isn’t the only one to put forward a similar analysis. Senator Bernie Sanders had accused the Democratic Party of “abandoning the working class” in a recent statement. While it’s too early to point fingers, Democrats took a decisive loss in this election cycle. Both Conover and Sanders agree that the Democratic Party must learn how to listen to the interests of the working class because it is a party for the working class. Until then, billionaires like Musk and Trump will find ways to exploit people’s grievances against their own best interests.
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