Trump Hails ‘Super Genius’ Elon Musk In Victory Speech—Ahead Of Likely Election Win

06 Nov 2024 by Siladitya Ray · Forbes

Topline

Donald Trump called Elon Musk a “new star” and a “super genius,” and heaped praise on the billionaire who has been one of his campaign’s biggest financial backers in a victory speech in Florida early on Wednesday, as The Associated Press showed he was only three electoral votes away from securing the presidency once again.

Trump heaped praise on Elon Musk who was one of the GOP candidate's biggest financial backers.The Washington Post via Getty Images

Key Facts

After thanking his family members, running mate JD Vance and senior GOP operatives—Trump responded to an audience member calling out Musk’s name saying, “Let me tell you we have a new star…a star is born, Elon.”

Trump told his supporters Musk spent “two weeks in Philadelphia and different parts of Pennsylvania campaigning,” before heaping praise on the billionaire’s rocket company SpaceX.

The former president then said he asked Musk to provide Starlink services in North Carolina after it was struck by Hurricane Helene and claimed it “saved a lot of lives.”

“He’s a character, he’s a special guy, he’s a super genius,” Trump said of Musk before adding, “We have to protect our geniuses, we don’t have that many of them.”

Unlike some of the other people who received a shout-out from Trump, Musk did not join him on stage.

Big Number

At least $118 million. That is the total amount of money Musk poured into his America PAC as of October 16, to help support Trump’s campaign, federal filings showed. This meant the billionaire was Trump’s second biggest financial backer, behind Timothy Mellon.

Forbes Valuation

According to our estimates, Musk’s net worth is $264.7 billion as of early Wednesday, making him the world’s richest person.

Crucial Quote