Elon Musk appears to have admitted he only entered politics because his daughter, Gen Z model Vivian Wilson, is a transgender woman.
Earlier this week, the world’s richest man — who has an eye-watering $826.1 billion net worth — replied to an X user’s quote about Vivian joining the Pride campaign for Rihanna’s SAVAGE X FENTY lingerie brand.
The post claimed ‘we should never forget that, if not for Vivian, Elon Musk never would have gotten involved’ [in politics].
The user also said that Elon ‘never would have purchased Twitter, Kamala Harris would be President and the Left-wing would have total instrumental control over the construction of Skynet.’
Responding to the comment, the right-wing billionaire said, ‘True.’ Which, in doing so, completely contradicted Vivian’s take on the subject.
In 2025, the transgender rights activist told Teen Vogue that her estranged father’s involvement in politics and shift towards the right was ‘not because of [her].’
The 22-year-old said at the time: ‘It’s such a convenient narrative, that the reason he turned right is because I’m a f****** t*****, and that’s just not the case. That’s not what that does to people.’
Vivian doubled down on the accusation, adding that Elon ‘going further to the right’ is ‘not because of her.’ She also told the publication to ‘make sure you put “further” in there,’ before branding the whole story ‘insane.’
Elon’s political career was short-lived in any case.
Back in 2024, when Donald Trump won the presidency for the second time, the Tesla CEO famously became very buddy with the leader.
Elon had been a huge financial donor for Trump’s election campaign — reports say he dropped $288 million to help the president win the election, along with other Republican candidates.
After Trump’s win, it was announced that Elon would head up DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency. The president established the political entity in January 2025 by renaming the United States Digital Service.
As a special advisor, Elon was the driving force behind the controversial federal spending slashes and the downsizing of the US government.
During his tenure, he pushed for mass layoffs and buyouts, cancelled various federal grants, leases, and vendor contracts and used his tech background to attempt to overhaul bureaucratic processes.
However, Elon was only in the role for a few months, as tensions between him and the president were reported in March 2025.
The pair were embroiled in a very public online feud; while Elon criticised the Trump administration’s response to the Jeffrey Epstein case, the president described the tech mogul as ‘off the rails’ on his Truth Social.
Trump also limited Elon’s authority, and by May 2025, he had left The White House.
Since Trump re-entered office, Vivian has been outspoken on the importance of raising queer voices during a time when the LGBTQ+ community is under attack by his administration.
Shortly after Trump was sworn in, he revoked two Biden directives. This included a policy aimed at preventing discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. He also signed an order recognising two sexes only — male and female — and stated that they cannot be changed.
The order says: ‘These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.’
Speaking with Out magazine in May this year, just ahead of Pride month in June, Vivian said: ‘As queer people, we’re always screaming into this void that we’re not these demons you think we are.
‘It’s exhausting, but it’s incredibly important to lift up the queer community. We can’t stop screaming. Queer progress has gotten better and now it’s getting worse. Especially in these political times, it’s important to showcase queer joy.’
Regarding Elon and Vivian’s relationship (the pair have been estranged since 2020), the model has been very vocal about her feelings toward her father.
Especially after he claimed that Vivian was ‘killed’ by the ‘woke mind virus.’ In an 2024 interview with conservative Canadian psychologist and author Jordan Peterson, Elon said he was ‘tricked’ into signing transition documents.
This week, Vivian then cut an interview short in Ibiza when a reporter praised Elon.
While on the red carpet at a Desigual Vintage event, the journalist was heard asking Vivian, ‘Your father the best, no?’
After mishearing the question at first, the model quickly transitioned from smiling to visibly shocked, then snapped ‘Okay’ and walked away.
In 2022, two years before Elon deadnamed her in the interview with Jordan Peterson, Vivian filed a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court to legally change her name and gender.
The then-18-year-old cited the reason as ‘gender identity and the fact that I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form.’