Topline
A stream of congratulatory messages were sent in support of Donald Trump after winning the election Wednesday morning, including from a handful of Trump’s billionaire backers and his celebrity endorsements.
Trump declared victory hours before the race was called.
Key Facts
Elon Musk, who was praised by Trump in his election speech, wrote “game, set and match” late on Tuesday and later posted—in addition to several other pro-Trump messages—an image of himself speaking with Trump at an election night party.
Fellow tech billionaire Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus VR, said “GG,” an acronym for good game, in a similar post, to which Musk responded “yup.”
Joe Rogan, host of the most listened-to podcast in the U.S., responded to Fox News declaring Trump’s victory before the Associated Press called the election: “WHOLE. LEE. S—.”
In a lengthy post on X, billionaire Bill Ackman said the election result was “as I expected” and criticized the Democratic party as “fundamentally undemocratic.
Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy said Trump “won for fun,” claiming Democrats gave voters like himself “no choice” to vote and support Trump.
UFC President Dana White appeared alongside Trump during his victory speech, saying Trump “deserves” the presidency and applauded several podcasts and influencers who supported Trump, including Barstool’s “Bussin with the Boys” and comedian Theo Vonn.
Actor Zachary Levi wrote he was “incredibly proud” of everyone who voted for Trump, adding to other celebratory messages from InfoWars host Alex Jones, Rosanne Barr and Jake Paul, who said, “truth won in this election.”
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Who Else Has Congratulated Trump?
Amazon’s billionaire founder Jeff Bezos offered “big congratulations” to Trump, weeks after he shot down The Washington Post’s endorsement for Harris. Piers Morgan, who did not endorse either candidate, indicated he recently spoke with Trump to congratulate him on the “greatest comeback in political history.”
Contra
Mark Cuban, a Harris supporter and critic of Musk and Trump, congratulated Trump and said “you won fair and square” while also extending a congratulations to Musk.
Tangent
Trump praised Musk for his campaign efforts during his election speech, calling the Tesla CEO a “super genius” and said a “new star is born.” Musk threw his support—and his money—behind Trump this summer after the Republican presidential candidate was targeted in an assassination attempt. Since then, Musk has become one of Trump’s most outspoken supporters, speaking at his rallies and stumping for the former president in multiple town halls held in the swing state of Pennsylvania. Musk provided his own Trump-supporting super PAC, America PAC, with more than $118 million in the lead-up to the election. His super PAC also gave away several $1 million checks to random swing state voters who signed a petition on America PAC’s website. The $1 million prizes were challenged in court by Philadelphia’s district attorney, though a city judge declined to issue an injunction blocking the giveaways.
Key Background
The Associated Press called the presidential election for Trump on Wednesday morning, shortly after winning Wisconsin’s electoral votes to bring his tally to 277. Trump declared victory before The Associated Press called the race, telling his supporters “this was the greatest political movement of all time.” His victory followed a series of wins in other swing states, including Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina.
Forbes Valuation
We estimate Musk’s net worth at $281 billion, making him the world’s wealthiest person. Bezos is the world’s second-richest person with an estimated net worth of $221.6 billion. Ackman, founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, has a fortune valued at $8.9 billion. Luckey is worth $2.4 billion, and Cuban is worth $5.7 billion.
Further Reading
Election Day 2024: Here’s Trump’s Clearest Path To Victory—After Winning North Carolina (Updated) (Forbes)
Here’s When To Expect The Trump-Harris Election Results In The 7 Key Swing States (Forbes)
