Elon Musk’s messy breakup with California rages on
Good morning. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
- The real issue behind Elon Musk vs. California
- Ex-LAPD officer will face charges for 2015 killing of homeless man in Venice.
- Here are 11 staycation ideas around SoCal.
- And here’s today’s e-newspaper
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Musk and California seemed like the perfect match. What soured?
The wealthiest man on the planet has been pouring millions into the 2024 election in an effort to propel Donald Trump back into the White House and protect Republican seats in Congress.
In three months alone, Elon Musk added almost $75 million into his America PAC, which has spent over $110 million to support GOP candidates, with the largest share going to tight California congressional races, my colleagues Laura J. Nelson and James Rainey reported this week.
This marks a pivot for the South African-born billionaire, who for years mostly kept out of politics, donating modestly across the aisle and voting for Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
“Musk has said he shifted toward Republicans because Democrats have become too liberal,” James and Laura wrote. “But his expansive business portfolio — which includes Tesla, SpaceX and its broadband internet subsidiary, Starlink — also stands to benefit from a supportive Congress and an attentive ally in the White House.”
Musk has increasingly been at odds with California, where he lived for many years. The saga has played out like a messy breakup happening in public; you can’t really look away.
If you’re on X (formerly Twitter) in any capacity, it’s hard to miss his posts trashing California and trolling its Democratic leaders (in large part because he had the platform tweaked so his tweets dominate the ranked timeline).
Musk has likened Gov. Gavin Newsom to the Joker, claimed Democrats aim to turn the country into “a single-party socialist state” like California and railed against state policies on immigration, transgender youth and deepfake election content.
In July, Musk announced he would move SpaceX and X headquarters from California to Texas, just as he’d done with Tesla’s HQ in 2021.
James Rainey previously chronicled Musk’s “messy divorce” with the Golden State, writing that the mogul’s “California dreaming has been clouded with his dark view of a state that he accuses of ‘overregulation, overlitigation, overtaxation.’”
Still, the tech tycoon’s influence in the Golden State is undeniable.
You can spot it in the Teslas zipping along the street, in the news as his rebranded Twitter platform has become a hub for MAGA ideology and rampant disinformation (some of it boosted by Musk himself), and in the skies over California, courtesy of a SpaceX launch light show.
“Culturally what [Musk]’s done has been so in the spirit of California,” author Edward Niedermeyer told me this week. “It’s a state of both technological innovation and spectacle and he really brought those two together.”
Niedermeyer’s 2019 book “Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors” traces the EV company’s rise from its founding to its approach after Musk’s takeover to its place in cultural perception pre-pandemic.
For him, Musk’s embrace of Donald Trump’s worldview and his parallel rejection of California’s liberal politics aren’t really about ideology or free speech martyrdom (as Musk often espouses). Rather, Musk is reckoning with a “slow encroachment of long overdue consequences that is pushing him into this right-wing, anti-government [stance].”
Musk and his companies have faced numerous violations, lawsuits, fines and settlements in and out of California, including for air pollution at Tesla’s Fremont plant, workplace safety violations, labor practices and mishandling hazardous waste.
More recently, the California Coastal Commission rejected SpaceX’s plan to increase its rocket launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Panel members raised concerns about the impacts on local wildlife but some also took issue with Musk’s political posts and his companies’ labor records.
Now SpaceX is suing the commission, alleging “naked political discrimination” against Musk.
The billionaire took to his social media platform, calling the state panel an “insufferable and misanthropic group of Karens” and saying it should be dissolved.
Musk’s ascent through Tesla and his other ventures “could only have happened in California,” Niedermeyer argued. Their growth was aided with billions in government subsidies from the state and federal government. And given California’s proud place as an innovation and environmental standard-bearer, Niedermeyer said regulators were initially more willing “to look the other way” as Musk’s companies cut corners and flouted regulation.
“Ultimately, it has bought the state zero loyalty,” he said, “and Musk is now moving on.”
Today’s top stories
A former LAPD officer will face charges for the 2015 killing of an unarmed homeless man
- An arrest warrant has been issued for former officer Clifford Proctor, who fired two fatal shots into the back of Brendon Glenn after a dispute with a bouncer outside a bar near the Venice Speedway, officials told The Times.
- Glenn’s death has been a point of tension in the city for years, and this week’s warrant marks a dramatic reversal of a previous decision to not file charges in the case.
Harris has been called both ‘soft’ and ‘tough’ on crime. So what does her record show?
- Those who worked with Kamala Harris when she was San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general say her approach to being a prosecutor was nuanced and defies labels.
- In other election news, Tump this week vowed to ban transgender athletes and pointed to a disputed San Jose State volleyball play.
A significant expansion of rent control will be decided by California voters next month
- Proposition 33 would allow cities to put rent caps on properties and units that they currently cannot cap, including newer apartment buildings, single-family houses and vacant units.
- Supporters say the measure is needed to tackle the state’s affordable housing crisis. But critics argue the measure will backfire by stifling housing construction.
- You can find more information on Proposition 33 in this voter guide from The Times.
Kids are sucking down baby food pouches at record rates. And we could pay for it
- Baby food pouches are convenient for busy parents. But relying too much on them can have several consequences for children, doctors and other experts warn.
- The popularity of pouches also exposes shortcomings in the federal regulation of baby and toddler foods. The FDA this year recalled 3 million pouches that contained extremely high levels of lead.
What else is going on
- The closure of the Phillips 66 refinery complex in the Wilmington will likely mean higher gas prices, analysts say.
- High waves swept beachgoers into the ocean in Oahu, claiming the lives of a California man and an Oklahoma woman.
- More than 2,000 mental health professionals at Kaiser Permanente in Southern California could go on strike Monday
- AI is supposed to be Hollywood’s next big thing. What’s taking so long?
- A weak La Niña could bring dry conditions to parts of the Southwest this winter, forecasters predict.
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Commentary and opinions
- L.A. is broke, and the budget crisis is self-inflicted, the Editorial Board writes.
- Trump says criminal activity is genetic. Nazis showed where such talk can lead, writes Benjamin Carter Hett, a history professor at at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, CUNY.
- AI is so rampant now that even a second-grade project is a lesson in deepfakes, The Times’ Tony Barboza
observes. - Menopausal women have a lot at stake in this election, write Jennifer Weiss-Wolf and Tamsen Fadal in a guest opinion.
This morning’s must reads
Many Korean Americans are leaving the U.S. to return to their homeland. For decades, South Koreans came to the U.S. for a better life. Now some say they are returning after encountering a “forever foreigner mentality.”
Other must reads
- A drive along Arizona’s border wall with Mexico features heat, vultures and rosaries.
- At 96, Isabel Janken is “thinking about the future of L.A. housing” and built an ADU to prove it.
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to [email protected].
For your downtime
Going out
- 🏖️ Here are best staycations around Southern California, from the Idyllwild forest to picturesque Santa Barbara.
- 🎞️ Andrew Garfield has embraced vulnerability while promoting his new film, “We Live in Time,” our columnist writes.
- 🎨 The lost art of rebel Disney Imagineer Rolly Crump, who worked on attractions such as the Haunted Mansion, can be viewed at a West Hollywood gallery.
- 🎤 Stand-up comic Stavros Halkias deploys his acting chops in “Let’s Start a Cult,” about an inept convert who can’t quite get with the program.
Staying in
- 🎥 Mexican journalists are dying. A new documentary on Netflix tells their story.
- 📺 A new docuseries from Peacock looks at how a writer on “Grey’s Anatomy” faked a battle with cancer.
- 🎵 Comedian Tim Heidecker talks about songwriting ahead of his new album, “Slipping Away,” out Friday on Bloodshot Records.
- 🎱 Toy companies are embracing “kidults.”
- 🍪 Here’s a recipe for brown butter espresso cookies.
- ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.
A question for you: What’s your favorite restaurant in California?
Josh Silver writes: “The FOOD cafe in West L.A. I eat lunch there almost every day. It’s my version of the TV series ‘Cheers,’ as it’s a place where everybody knows my name. The food is uniformly delicious. I’ve brought dozens of guests over the years with nary a single complaint.”
Annette writes: “Without a doubt, our favorite restaurant is Anchos Southwest Grill and Bar in Riverside! Food is great! Amazing steak tacos, fresh tortillas, tasty green and red sauces on enchiladas, called Christmas, just to name a couple. Our family has been celebrating here for over 30 years!”
And Susan writes: “One of my favorite restaurants anywhere and best in California is Ojai Rotie. Sit outside at their picnic tables that are always decked with a pot of flowers. Beautiful Lebanese roast chicken with sides or try a lamb burger, chop chicken salad, really everything is great.”
Thank you for all of the restaurant recommendations this week. It was a pleasure reading your emails.
And finally ... your photo of the day
Today’s photo is from staff photographer Robert Gauthier, who was recently on assignment for a story about how a bold generation of graffiti taggers are hitting high-profile targets in Los Angeles.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Defne Karabatur, fellow
Andrew Campa, Sunday reporter
Hunter Clauss, multiplatform editor
Christian Orozco, assistant editor
Stephanie Chavez, deputy metro editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
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