Fox News has broadcast an awkward hot mic moment where a producer appeared to express feelings about Elon Musk gaining political power live on air.
The accidental commentary came as host Bret Baier was providing late-night analysis just after 2am eastern time.
Fox News had said former President Donald Trump was on track to be the winner and began talking about what this means for America’s power structure.
‘You know, the question is, what the Republican Party looks like now,’ Baier said. ‘It’s a multiracial party, to your point, it’s working class, and maybe it’s the future. I mean, it’s Elon Musk. It is Joe Rogan and podcasts.’
A voice can be heard muttering ‘oh Lord’ when Baier mentions Musk’s name.
Musk went all-in for the incoming president, attending his Butler, Pennsylvania rally in October wearing a MAGA hat.
He told the crowd the 2024 would be ‘the last election’ if Trump didn’t win, while plugging the former president’s campaign on his social media platform, X.
Trump has already said he plans to make Tesla billionaire Musk head of a new committee charged with auditing the federal government.
He has not yet detailed how the body would function. The government already has watchdogs such as the Office of Management and Budget, and investigators general at federal agencies.
But Trump has said the Tesla and SpaceX billionaire would head the commission.
Trump said he would seek to decimate what he terms the ‘deep state’ – career federal employees he says are clandestinely pursuing their own agendas – through an executive order that would reclassify thousands of workers to enable them to be fired. That would likely be challenged in court.
He would crack down on federal whistleblowers, who are typically shielded by law, and would institute an independent body to ‘monitor’ U.S. intelligence agencies.
Musk was one of the biggest donors to Republican Party causes over this election campaign, and joined the former president’s watch party at his home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, on Tuesday evening.
Now, Musk is set to benefit financially. His wealth is set to soar by around $15billion as Tesla shares rocketed amid Trump’s election victory.
The electric car company’s shares were up nearly 15 per cent at $289.44 in pre-market trading today, adding about $113bn to its valuation.
This will increase the billionaire’s fortune by an estimated $15billion, if the share price retains that value by the end of the day, due to his 12.8 per cent stake in Tesla, The Telegraph has reported.
Trump hailed Musk, who has supported him throughout his presidential campaign, a ‘genius’ in a victory speech.
‘We have a new star, a star is born: Elon,’ Trump said, marveling at Musk’s SpaceX rocket and the deployment of the Starlink satellite internet service during Hurricane Helene.
‘He’s an amazing guy,’ Trump said. ‘He’s a character, he’s a special guy, he’s a super genius.’
Investors welcomed the prospect of a Trump victory as Wall Street futures – bets on what the price of a stock will be at a later date – jumped as the former president appeared poised to defeat Vice President Kamala Harris.
Musk shared a photo on his social media platform X showing him with Trump at an election watch party in Florida, and the Republican candidate singled him out during a celebratory speech.
The tech billionaire staunchly supported Trump during the campaign through America PAC, a political action committee that contributed tens of millions of dollars and doled out $1 million giveaways to registered voters in key states.
‘Tesla shares are rising … due to his special ties with Donald Trump,’ Andrea Tueni, analyst at Saxobank, told AFP.
Trump, Tueni said, ‘owes him a lot’.
Investors are betting that their closeness ‘will turn into something positive for Tesla’, Tueni added.