SpaceX's Elon Musk Endorses Democratic Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang

Andrew Yang just picked up a big endorsement for his underdog 2020 presidential bid.

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk voiced his support over the weekend for Yang, a 44-year-old entrepreneur who's seeking to become the Democratic Party's candidate in the 2020 presidential election.

"I support Yang," Musk said via Twitter on Saturday (Aug. 10), in response to a tweet from Dan Carlin, the host of the popular "Hardcore History" podcast.

"He would [be] our first openly goth president. I think this is very important," Musk added in another tweet, apparently referencing a Jezebel piece from April in which Yang discussed his Smiths-loving high school years.

Though that tweet was tongue-in-cheek, Musk's support for Yang is apparently quite serious. In another Saturday tweet, Musk said that universal basic income, a key part of Yang's platform, is "obviously needed."

Yang quickly thanked Musk for the endorsement. "Thank you Elon — this means a great deal. Congrats on building the future," the candidate tweeted on Saturday.

While Musk is one of the world's most influential people — he runs electric-car maker Tesla in addition to SpaceX, for example — he is certainly no kingmaker. The billionaire entrepreneur backed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, saying Donald Trump "is probably not the right guy" to lead the country.

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Mike Wall's book about the search for alien life, "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.