Elon Musk says media's "absurd characterization of the far right" is false and misleading

During an interview with *The Economist*’s editor in chief, Zanny Minton Beddoes, Elon Musk rejected the label of supporting “far right” figures, calling such characterizations by the media false and misleading. Beddoes had pressed Musk on his backing of fringe right-wing parties, but the tech billionaire countered that he supports ordinary people and described policies like secure borders and safe cities as normal, not extreme. He argued that positions considered far right today were mainstream 10 to 15 years ago, citing examples of past speeches by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The exchange, which included Musk joking about keeping the footage, was later shared on social media by a UK lawmaker previously called right-wing by Beddoes. The interview also touched on Musk’s prediction that artificial intelligence could surpass overall human intelligence within roughly five years.