Trump says Elon Musk is like Thomas Edison: 'He's one of our great geniuses'

[Calista241]

Source: CNBC

President Donald Trump told CNBC on Wednesday that Elon Musk is one of the world’s “great geniuses,” he likened the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX to Thomas Edison.

Musk is “one of our great geniuses, and we have to protect our genius,” Trump said in an interview with “Squawk Box” co-host Joe Kernen from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“You know, we have to protect Thomas Edison and we have to protect all of these people that came up with originally the light bulb and the wheel and all of these things. And he’s one of our very smart people and we want to cherish those people,” the president said.

In a 2008 interview, Musk said Edison and Nikola Tesla, for whom he named his electric auto company, were both role models, but he preferred Edison. Tesla, the scientist, was a rival of Edison.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/22/trump-likens-elon-musk-to-thomas-edison-as-one-of-our-great-geniuses.html?__source=iosappshare%7Ccom.apple.UIKit.activity.PostToTwitter

[MontanaMama]

1. But is he a stable genius?

Because then he’d be really special.

[Javaman]

3. and does the orange "genius" still think he's smarter than musk? lol nt

[marble falls]

28. Poop. You beat me to it.

[MontanaMama]

36. Great minds marble falls...

We're on the same team.

[marble falls]

37. Where do I get one of those great minds for myself!!!

[Archae]

2. Edison was a miserable SOB as well.

He treated his employees like shit.

Exposing them to needless harm from radiation, even AFTER the harm of radiation had been established.

And taking credit for inventions his workers had created.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

15. An honest millionaire.

Cross posted in the Lounge

[Docreed2003]

4. Couldn't he have gone with someone else instead of Edison?

I don't know....um....Tesla????

[OnlinePoker]

7. He'd never do that...Tesla was a foreigner. n/t

[AtheistCrusader]

10. So is Musk?

(Apologies in advance if I missed some sarcasm)

[OnlinePoker]

22. Definite sarcasm. n/t

[AtheistCrusader]

23. Right-o.

I was hoping that was the case, and I was just being dense.

[rsdsharp]

13. So was Musk -- at least until he was 17.

He was born in South Africa and currently holds citizenship in three countries: South African, Canadian, and US.

So maybe he's 2/3 "foreign."

[Yavin4]

38. When Trump said "our", he means White .

As in Musk is one of our White geniuses.

[bullwinkle428]

9. Chump's uncle John was actually a pretty brilliant guy, in the field of

electrical engineering and physics. Proof that intelligence is not always hereditary...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_G._Trump

[Backseat Driver]

30. You'd think the only guy whose genius he'd recognize would be

John Henry Patterson.

Cha-ching!

[bucolic_frolic]

5. Both hold UPenn degrees, no?

a lot of alumni bro support from all institutions goes unnoticed

[karynnj]

6. I am so glad he is in favor of protecting the people who came up with the wheel

Not to mention, what does he mean by "protecting"? Years ago, Arno Penias, Nobel prize winner, walked the halls of Bell Labs Murray Hill.

[Aristus]

21. I would have thought the patent had expired by now.

I mean, companies around the world are producing generic, off-market wheels.

[mr_lebowski]

26. Surprised he didn't throw 'fire' in the list there ...

Freaking idiot ...

[deurbano]

8. The wheel?!!!

[AtheistCrusader]

11. Trump has read the documentaries in The Far Side.

Clearly Thag is an American.

[deurbano]

39. That's a possibility. Or maybe he visited the Creation Museum...

SO much historical accuracy, and less reading comprehension required!

[brush]

12. See Tesla v Edison rap video below. Tesla's alternating current prevailed over...

Edison's lethal direct current.

[mr_lebowski]

32. Well, both are lethal, technically ...

AC 'won' because it travels distances along wires with significantly less loss of power due to friction. As well as being less dangerous, generally.

However, as I'm sure everyone knows, many, many things actually 'run' on DC power.

In the simplest sense, Power is created as DC, then we convert it to AC to carry it over distance, but then we convert it back to DC to use it, at least for many, many applications. Electronics in particular.

Really simple stuff like incandescent lightbulbs and ovens can run on AC directly (but that digital clock on your oven? that's running on DC), but a lot of things can't.

They kinda both 'won', IOW.

[brush]

42. AC is more useful and generally less dangerous for public use though.

[jmowreader]

47. If you are producing AC power, it starts off that way

You can make electricity with either a generator or an alternator.

A generator always makes DC power, which you can feed to an inverter to produce AC.

An alternator always makes AC power. You can turn it into DC with a rectifier.

[samnsara]

14. maybe he will be the first passenger on the rocket ship!

[underpants]

16. Man, Thomas Crapper don't get sh/t?

[SoCalNative]

17. He's also crazier

than a shithouse rat.

[captain jack]

18. Worst endorsement ever. Duck and Weave Musk.

Getting the Trump bump is like getting pushed off the edge of the Grand Canyon.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

19. Musk is an IMMIGRANT from South Africa and Canada. . . . nt

[Dukkha]

20. He is like Edison

and like Steve Jobs. They fund others to do all the work then take credit for everything as if it was their creation. I can see why the stable genius would admire that trait. Capitalists who stand on the shoulders of giants while trampling on the working class.

[Kablooie]

24. Many of these guys are crappy in a human relationship kind of way.

But without their drive to push technical developments, whether they thought them up themselves or not, many things we have today wouldn't have been developed and we'd be living in a different world. Their efforts did provide new standards of life for everyone in the world.

There are certainly reasons to criticize their flaws but their contributions to the world have to be acknowledged as well.

[Sloumeau]

25. Elon Musk Has Donated Nearly 7 Times As Much To Republicans This Cycle

[link:https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elon-musk-donations-republicans_n_5b4e4bd8e4b0b15aba897481|]

The billionaire “climate hero” has given nearly $90,000 to a party whose members largely dismiss climate science.

Billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, a man widely hailed as a world leader in the fight to combat climate change, has doled out nearly 7 times as much cash to Republican campaigns and political committees this election cycle as he has to Democratic ones.

Since the start of 2017, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has personally contributed $88,900 to Republicans, while he gave those on the other side of the aisle $13,300, according to a HuffPost review of Federal Election Commission data.

How much of a "genius" Trump thinks you are often depends on how you spend your money.

[mr_lebowski]

33. I would say 'damn near always' ... although 'how much you make' enters into it ...

Just in case someday you might throw some his way.

[marble falls]

27. But is he a "stable" genius?

[truthisfreedom]

29. He's already forgotten. Musk was part of a trump troop three years ago

But Musk backed out when he realized 45 is fucking out of his mind.

[Calista241]

41. He did that publicly. Who knows what was said or communicated in private.

The fact that Trump speaks so highly of him, leads me to believe we don't know all that there is to know here.

[bucolic_frolic]

31. Kernen is a special Kudlow-class loser

What does Trump know about the wheel? When did he last hold a driver's license?

Tesla car bodies are an amalgamation of many parts. It's on YouTube. Not very efficient, and a bit expensive way of doing things.

Imagine if Edison had been Trump. Would we have light bulbs today? No. We'd be regressing, lighting with olive oil, Roman style.

The Roman Trumpius would not have have invented the wheel. The "wheel" would be triangular, and Trumpius would be selling billions of shock absorbers to smooth the ride.

No doubt Trump would have changed history at any point if he were there. All winners would be losers, and history would be the record of how losing ideas won to halt progress.

[empedocles]

34. Ever wonder about the people feeding traitortrump these sound bites?

[Turbineguy]

35. Elon Musk must be

nearly as smart as trump then.

[Politicub]

40. Won't someone please protect Edison?

We almost lost him at the Bowling Green massacre.

[Initech]

46. I thought he was a combat pilot at the Revolutionary War.

[jmowreader]

48. He was also an admiral in the Swiss Navy

[Initech]

49. I was mocking Trump history.

[jmowreader]

50. I know...

I say we let it be known the Swiss Navy supports Joe Biden and watch to see how long it takes Trump to denounce the Swiss Navy.

He’s such a dumbass he’d believe the Swiss have a navy.

[Initech]

51. Not gonna dispute that one!

[BHDem53]

43. One thing is for sure,

there aren't any wheels turning in his empty cranium. Or a lit light bulb, for that matter.

[dustyscamp]

44. A lot of Libertarians and other dude bros admire Musk

Trump giving Musk praise gives him some cred with them

[SCVDem]

45. Elon never shot

an elephant into space.

Edison sent one to the Great Beyond!

AC