New Delhi: Hours after Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder Elon Musk said political attacks on him will “escalate drastically” in coming months, the world’s richest man on Thursday announced that while he voted for Democrats in the past, he will now vote for Republicans.


"In the past I voted Democrat, because they were (mostly) the kindness party. But they have become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican," Musk tweeted.






"Now, watch their dirty tricks campaign against me unfold," added Musk, who has put the Twitter deal on hold which he agreed to buy for $44 billion.


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In a recent interview, the 50-year-old billionaire announced that he would reverse Twitter's ban on former US President Donald Trump, a Republican after he acquired the social media platform. Musk also stressed Twitter is far-left-biased since it is headquartered in California, a state known for its progressive politics.


Musk has remained a vocal critic of the present Biden administration and Democrats for looking to tax billionaires and give more tax incentives to union-made electric vehicles. Tesla does not have unions at its US factories.


In fact, Tesla shifted its headquarters from California to the more politically conservative Texas even as the state was counted among the biggest market in the United States.


To this extent he also himself relocated from California to Texas, where there is no state income tax. Musk ended up selling about $25 billion worth of Tesla stock since last year to pay taxes and back his proposed acquisition of Twitter financially. Obsevers said the sales helped him cash in on Tesla's stock rally besides diversifying his wealth.


On the proposed takeover, Musk said he will go forward with the deal only if the spam profiles on the microblogging sites account for less than 5 percent of the total accounts.