Tech entrepreneur and Democrat presidential candidate Andrew Yang got an endorsement from another tech guy on Saturday with a tweet from Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
“I support Yang,” Musk tweeted.
Musk was responding to a tweet from another Twitter account that had replied to Yang’s tweet:
“My main hope is that people trust that I’m trying to solve problems and I’m open to different approaches – particularly if the data drives in a particular direction,” Yang tweeted. “Changing one’s mind is not a bad thing.”
Later Musk weighed in with his “I support Yang” tweet.
He also posted a second message about Yang.
“He would our first openly goth president,” Musk tweeted. “I think this is very important.”
Business Insider reported that in an April interview with Jezebel, Yang said he was once a goth subculture enthusiast:
The Tesla CEO also agrees with Yang’s stance that Americans will eventually need a universal basic income. When asked by Twitter user Harry Stoltz about universal basic income, Musk called the policy “obviously needed.” As president Yang hopes to launch what he calls a Freedom Dividend that would provide $1,000 a month to every American. The program would be funded by taxes on businesses that rely on innovation.
Tesla relies heavily on automation in its manufacturing process, though Musk has previously admitted to pushing the company towards automation too quickly.
Musk endorsed Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump ahead of the 2016 presidential election but ultimately agreed to join Trump’s economic advisory team when the president took office. That arrangement lasted for less than six months, however. Musk left the advisory team in June 2017 due to disagreements with the Trump administration’s climate change policies.
Yang thanked Musk for the endorsement.
“Thank you Elon – this means a great deal,” Yang tweeted. “Congrats on building the future.”
Follow Penny Starr on Twitter.