As a man who “always wanted to change things through technological innovation” describes the father of the richest man on the planet, Herolspeaking to “Vima”, while about his son’s relationship with him argues that it is based on “mutual understanding and common views”.
With roots in the United Kingdom, the South African mechanical engineer has occupied the news from time to time with his own opinions. But what is his own relationship with his son? “He grew up with me. I have been told that he is quite like me and has made great progress compared to my other children. He’s had a lot of good opportunities given him so that’s brought him to the fore quite a bit and I’m very pleased with his run.” he answers.
You describe a rather close relationship when your son was a child. How do you think this relationship affected him?
“I would say a lot of his determination comes from his upbringing. I was a consulting engineer. Elon traveled all over the world with me. I was involved in politics. He had a share in them. So, he had many experiences as a child, in many ways. We always had a private plane, we went on ocean yacht trips. He had seen most of the world, most of the major cities in the world by the age of 12. So he had a very broad understanding of things. When he went to the United States to begin his studies, he had already been there twice with me for long periods. So he had a pretty good idea of what the United States is like.”
“Nonsense that Elon wants to replace Trump”
And now he’s set to take over as “Secretary of Efficiency” in the Trump administration. How do you see him in this role? There are already many reactions…
“Democrats are trying to give people the impression that he’s trying to replace Donald Trump. This is absolute nonsense. Ilon is a team player. There is no way he would do such a thing. And on top of that they already have a tremendous amount of work to do just to start fixing things in the United States. Biden was ready to turn America into another Venezuela. A lot needs to be done to get the country back on track and that’s what they’re focusing on, nothing else.”
So you don’t share any of these concerns? Nor the concern over your son’s rumored influence over the president-elect?
“I will insist, Elon is a team player, he does not try to get ahead of his people in the things he is involved in. He lets them do what they have to do. The same is true now with Trump. He will work in his assigned role. Those who say he will clash with Trump are nonsense.
The reason he has a good relationship with Trump is that they see things the same way. They agree with each other. It’s just that the Democrats, because that’s the weapon they’re using now, are trying to make the case that Elon is going to promote himself over Trump. No, that’s not real. It’s just Democrats’ fake news.”
“The British government has become something of an authoritarian, almost fascist”
You have links to the United Kingdom. Can you share a little more about those roots and your connection to the country?
“I can get a British passport because of my parents, and of course if I get a British passport, then Elon is entitled to a British passport too. We’ve always loved the UK, and we’ve always loved going there to enjoy the scenery and the history. We feel connected to England. We see it as our “mother” country.
We always believed that the English way was the right way. However, lately, we don’t think the UK government is doing the right thing. It has become something of an authoritarian, almost fascist government that imprisons people for voicing their objections on social media. It’s crazy what’s happening in the UK now. It cannot continue.”
“The only hope for Great Britain is Farage’s Reform UK”
Elon himself described Britain as a “tyrannical police state”. What are your thoughts on these statements of his?
“I was the first to say that he should resign and new elections should be held. And after that, it seems to have been adopted everywhere. I was invited to many shows and news reports in England because of these statements. And I said the same thing, because what these people in England do is simply not what the English do. It’s all wrong and everyone knows it now. I can’t imagine Starmer staying there after February.”
Lately there have been strong rumors that Elon has open lines of communication with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party. Do you think this reflects his broader desire to overturn traditional political systems?
“What I think is that the Tories don’t deserve it. It’s just Labor in a different color jacket. So, yes, the only possible hope is his party. You know, Farage has sense, he talks sense. But being a leader is a different thing because it requires you to have a strong personality.
You need someone who says ‘well, you can crucify me, but I won’t stop. I will continue.” And I don’t see anything like that in British politics, let’s hope something comes up. What I do know is that Elon and Trump feel that Reform UK would be a better option for England.”
“AfD is not a far-right party, it is a party of common sense”
But also in Germany, Elon’s supportive statements for the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) have caused a disturbance. Does this not constitute involvement in the political affairs of Germany as well?
“First of all, I believe that it is not a far-right party. This is nonsense. It is more of a party of common sense. You know, this thing where anyone who disagrees with you is considered far right is nonsense. What is happening is that the other parties are mentally deranged. They are mindless or mentally deranged. No, the people you refer to as far right are not far right. Same with the protesters in England with the riots. They were just ordinary people, absolutely centrists. Like Ilon, he is absolutely centrist. Elon is not far right, you know, and neither is Trump. They are absolutely centrists. They are common sense people. If someone came to Elon from the so-called Left or the so-called Right with a good idea, he would accept it.”
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However, do you accept the criticism that Elon has received for his support of polarizing figures?
“No, because Ilon speaks logically. You can trust everything he says. I know him, you can trust what I say. Elon is not going to say anything or support people who will cause trouble for anyone. No, he will do the right thing. You can trust him.”
Do you think it is right for Elon, given that he will have an active role in the new Trump administration, to comment so directly on another country’s election?
“He is still a private person and as a private person anyone can comment on anything. If he is eventually placed in Trump’s Cabinet, then obviously anything he says will be taken as coming from the government in America. So, this is different. But at the moment he is not placed in any position.”
“Ilon has always wanted to change things through technological innovation”
Do you think his involvement in world politics is a natural extension of his desire to change the world?
“He always wanted to change things through technological innovation which is naturally the way to change the world. And I don’t think he had any interest in politics. He certainly didn’t have much interest in politics until late 2021, when Biden invited all electric car manufacturers to the White House to discuss the future of electric mobility.
He didn’t call her and that year Tesla built a million cars and sold them. Biden presented GM as the leading car manufacturer, when GM had only built 26 cars and sold none. He completely ignored Ilon and this, of course, completely confused him. He could not understand how such a thing could happen. In the months that followed, in January 2022, when he raised questions about what was going on, he received thousands of attacks on , about how evil he is, etc. He couldn’t figure out what was going on until someone explained to him that Twitter is a private Democratic government propaganda platform.
So then he said, “if that’s the case, I’m going to buy Twitter and put an end to it.” Initially we believed that the platform is worth 7 billion. dollars, they finally forced him to pay 44 billion. while they had tried to stop the takeover. Today Twitter is the only real free speech platform in the world. And now it does 10 times the turnover it did in 2022.”
Low fertility and population replacement
Have you ever visited Greece? Recently Elon referred to the “population collapse” of our country based on a publication.
“We love Greece. It is one of the ancient civilizations, where we all come from. Her story and contribution to the world is incredible. I remember the first time I went to Greece I was 22 or 24 years old. Since then, we also took Ilon to Greece. We have visited the Greek islands, they are wonderful.
Regarding the issue of low birth rate, if a country has a negative birth rate, then it means that you will slowly have less people there. And it seems that whoever is doing this wants to replace the population with people from Third World countries.”
What advice would you give Elon for his new role?
“Be cool. Don’t look back, stay cool.”
