Elon Musk tells Bill Maher he's a 'moderate' who has championed sustainable energy, which is 'not exactly far-right'

Elon Musk appeared on Bill Maher's HBO show Friday. Getty Images

• Elon Musk dismissed claims he'd become conservative on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" Friday.
• The Tesla chief said he'd spent a "massive amount" of his life developing sustainable energy.
• "It's not exactly far-right," Musk said, adding that he thinks of himself as a "moderate."

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Elon Musk said he thinks of himself as a "moderate" in response to critics who say he's become conservative since buying Twitter last year.

He made the comments during an appearance on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" Friday.

"I, at least, think of myself as a moderate," the Tesla CEO said. "I spent a massive amount of my life energy building sustainable energy, you know, electric vehicles, and batteries, and solar. It's not exactly far-right."

Musk wants to accelerate the transition to sustainable energy with electric vehicles as well as renewable energy generation and storage.

However, the way he runs Twitter since buying the social media platform for $44 billion in October has attracted more attention.

Musk has repeatedly called himself a "free speech absolutist," and disagreed with Twitter's decision to ban former President Donald Trump's account following the Capitol riots in January 2021. He's also put free speech at the forefront of why he bought the social media platform.

—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 28, 2022

Musk told Maher: "Free speech used to be a left or liberal value, and yet we see from the quote 'left' a desire to actually censor, and that seems crazy."

"I think we should be extremely concerned about anything that undermines the First Amendment," Musk said. The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and the right to petition the government.

Musk later added: "My concern with Twitter was to that it is somewhat of the digital town square and it's important that there be both the reality and perception of trust for a wide range of viewpoints."

Musk has called himself an independent and centrist. He previously said that he'd only voted Democrat until May last year but could no longer support the party.

—Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 18, 2022

He's frequently feuded with elected Democrats, including President Joe Biden, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

However, the billionaire has shown a friendlier approach when exchanging with right-wing officials such as GOP Representative Lauren Boebert. Experts previously told Insider he was using Twitter to amplify far-right viewpoints.

Musk didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider made outside normal working hours.