by Robert Romano
Elon Musk on March 21 in a post on the X platform outlined what he called “centrist” positions on issues like securing the border, protecting American cities, reducing federal spending, ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) reverse discrimination policies, ending youth transgender surgeries and protecting freedom of speech under the First Amendment to the Constitution, saying these are not “right-wing” positions.
Musk wrote, “This is a battle to the death with the anti-civilizational woke mind virus. My positions are centrist: … Secure borders … Safe & clean cities … Don’t bankrupt America with spending … Racism against any race is wrong … No sterilization below age of consent … Is this right-wing?” In a second post in the thread, he added, “And, although it shouldn’t need to said, I believe in the Constitution and freedom of speech.”
This is a battle to the death with the anti-civilizational woke mind virus.
My positions are centrist:
– Secure borders
– Safe & clean cities
– Don’t bankrupt America with spending
– Racism against any race is wrong
– No sterilization below age of consentIs this right-wing? https://t.co/QgRkoem2u4
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 21, 2024
Public opinion polls seem to bear out Musk’s contention that his positions on these policy issues are indeed middle of the road. For example, in a Feb. 2024 poll from Monmouth University, 58 percent of independents favor building a wall on the southern border, and 58 percent also believe illegal immigration is a serious problem.
In a Gallup survey in Oct. 2023, a full 78 percent of independents said that crime was increasing in America and 60 percent who said it was extremely or very serious. Even Democrats agreed, with 58 percent saying crime was increasing and 51 percent who said it was extremely or very serious. 92 percent of Republicans agreed it crime was increasing and 78 percent it was extremely or very serious.
A May 2023 Pew survey found a full 57 percent of Americans, including 71 percent of Republicans and 44 percent of Democrats, believe reducing the budget deficit should be a top priority for the President and Congress.
A Jan. 2024 survey from CRC Research found a full 66 percent of Americans oppose race-based, gender-based and sexual preference-based hiring by employers, with only 22 percent supporting it. That included 71 percent of independents, 76 percent of Republicans and even 54 percent of Democrats who said they were opposed.
A Dec. 2022 survey by the Washington Post and Kaiser Family Foundation found 68 percent of Americans oppose the use of puberty blocking medications on minors aged 10 to 14 and 58 percent who opposed hormonal treatments for minors aged 15 to 17.
And a Sept. 2023 survey by RealClear Opinion Research found 59 percent who believed that users on social media should be able to post what they want that they feel is of national interest, and only 40 percent who thought the government should be able to censor users’ content. Only Democrats thought, with 52 percent, that the government should be allowed to censor social media.
Therefore, Musk is right, the positions he is taking on these issues, whether securing the border or protecting free speech on social media, are supported by fairly broad majorities of Americans who are fair-minded.
And yet, when these issues are approached by Congress and the President, almost exactly the opposite happens, for example in the most recent omnibus spending bills agreed to by President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), there was no border wall funding, no serious efforts to reduce the uptick in violent crime being seen in American cities, no prohibitions on the use of funds for discriminatory DEI hiring practices, no prohibitions on transgender youth surgeries and all prohibitions on government censorship of social media were stripped out.
To be fair, House Republicans had put all of these things put in their own appropriations bills they passed, but despite significant majorities of Americans supporting those policies, they were not included in the bipartisan bills that were ultimately agreed upon by both chambers.
And so, it is not Elon Musk who is out of step with the vast majorities of Americans, but the entrenched establishment in Washington, D.C. who refuses to listen to the people. Musk is right, we are in a “battle to the death” against woke — and the American people are losing.
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Robert Romano is the Vice President of Public Policy at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
Photo “Elon Musk” by U.S. Air Force Academy.
