One is an erratic billionaire entrepreneur and self-declared free-speech absolutist, prone to profanity-laden rants against "wokeness" and obsessed with making humanity a multi-planetary species. The other is an iconoclastic Latin American leader and self-declared anarcho-capitalist, prone to cloning his dead dogs and obsessed with destroying state controls. Tech executive Elon Musk and Argentine President Javier Milei finally sealed their budding bromance Friday at a Tesla electric car factory in Texas—their first meeting after months of mutual admiration on social media, the AP reports. It was a match made in free-market heaven.
In social media posts that thrilled their right-wing fans, the pair played up their real-life friendship:
- "To an exciting & inspiring future!" Musk wrote on X, or Twitter as it was known before he bought it in 2022, along with a photo of him and Milei both grinning widely and giving the camera two thumbs up, the libertarian president's trademark gesture.
- "Long live freedom, dammit!" Milei wrote in his own X post, which included a selfie of the pair, with the president sporting his signature leather bomber and Musk in his Air Force Academy navy sports jacket.
The meeting was closed to the press and a statement from Milei's office produced little news, saying the free-market enthusiasts discussed issues, ranging from the expected (how to promote entrepreneurship by slashing red-tape) to the random (the existential danger posed by declining birth rates). The two also agreed to host "a big event soon in Argentina to promote the ideas of freedom," the Argentine presidency said, but provided no further details. (Click for more, including what's at stake for Argentina.)