Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently tweeted a cartoon illustration suggesting that his political stand has shifted towards the right over the years. Now, the creator of the political cartoon, Colin Wright, is selling his sketch as a non-fungible token (NFT) and has opened bidding on the OpenSea digital marketplace.
Taking to Twitter, Mr Wright, who is a contributing editor for the online culture commentary site Quillette, wrote, “The auction for the #NFT of my political cartoon that @elonmusk shared (230K retweets, 1.3M likes) is currently at 1.25 $ETH! There are 13 days left to bid, so don't miss your chance to own a bit of internet history!”
Mr Musk had caused an online stir on Thursday after he tweeted Mr Wright's cartoon. The sketch depicts a stick figure, labelled “me”, standing slightly left-of-centre on the political spectrum as of 2008 - only to end up as a right-leaning conservative in 2021.
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It appears to indicate Mr Musk's belief that it is actually the left-wing of American politics that has moved to the extreme since 2008 and not the right-wing. The cartoon suggests that people with centrist views in 2008 are now to the right because of this change.
In the following tweets, the SpaceX and Tesla CEO elaborated on his political stance. “The far left hates everyone, themselves included!” he tweeted saying. However, in another post, Mr Musk added that he is no fan of the far-right either.
Coming back to Mr Wright's political doodle, the NFT auction is not the only effort of the creator to monetize the cartoon. In a tweet thanking Mr Musk for his post, Mr Wright also shared an Etsy listing for a mug depicting the sketch.
In a separate tweet, he said that he “really loved the discussion it has kindled”. He added that the cartoon speaks to a truth many feel. "Of course, politics are more complex than can be captured in a political cartoon with stick figures,” he added.
Meanwhile, the current NFT bid is 1.25 Ether, which is worth nearly $3,600.
