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FREE AMERICA NOW: Billionaire Elon Musk joins demand that COVID-19 lockdowns be lifted

April 29, 2020 | | Print Article
(Image: YouTube screenshot)

Billionaire inventor Elon Musk slammed lockdowns and added his voice to the many calling to reopen the country amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO demanded that states across the country “give people their freedom back” as he fired off a series of tweets on Tuesday criticizing the lockdown restrictions that remain in place to deal with the virus outbreak.

“FREE AMERICA NOW,” Musk tweeted.

The tweet was shared nearly 34,000 times since he posted it.

Musk also commented on a link to a Wall Street Journal op-ed on whether or not the strict restrictions are successful at saving lives.

“Bravo Texas!” the 48-year-old tweeted. in response to the state’s decision to reopen its economy.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s coronavirus task force laid out the guidelines that will allow some retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters and malls to re-open Friday with limited capacity.

Shelter-in-place orders in San Francisco, which have been extended to the end of May, and the drop in Tesla’s stock amid the pandemic, caused the closure of the factory near the Bay Area. The start of this week saw shares of Tesla surge 10 percent ahead of the release of the company’s quarterly earning report on Wednesday.

That rally in shares could give Musk a huge windfall as part of the agreement in his 2018 compensation package.

According to Market Watch:

Tesla predicted that it will hit that $100 billion market-cap milestone within the next two months, “if the value of Tesla’s closing stock price continues near the levels seen in late April 2020,” the company said in a filing Tuesday.

After the Tesla board certifies the $100 billion market cap average, then Musk would have the option to buy about 1.7 million shares at $350.02 a share. Selling them at Tuesday’s prices would mean a paper profit around $725 million for Musk.

 

Musk responded to other Twitter users who commented on the current shutdowns, calling for an easing of restrictions and efforts to get the country up and running again.

“The scariest thing about this pandemic is not the virus itself, it’s seeing American so easily bow down & give up their blood bought freedom to corrupt politicians who promise them safety,” one Twitter user observed, prompting the Tesla CEO to respond, “True.”

Musk, who last month had said there would be “probably close to zero new cases in US too by end of April,” clarified his call to reopen states by saying it should be done slowly.

“Yes, reopen with care & appropriate protection, but don’t everyone under de facto house arrest,” he tweeted.

The billionaire’s tweets generated plenty of reactions on Twitter where many have been calling for the lifting of coronavirus restrictions for days.

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Frieda Powers
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