Although Elon Musk, the global richest and CEO of Tesla, has now clearly stood behind Republican candidate Trump, in the US business community, who to support in the election is still a "bitter" topic: More and more CEOs and financiers are finding that they cannot find a natural political home in this election season...

In US history, the Republican Party was once synonymous with the pro-business faction, while the Democratic Party was seen as representing the working class and unions. However, since the rise of Trump, especially after he chose the populist Senator Vince as his running mate, these traditional perceptions have become increasingly blurred.

Now, some business and financial leaders say they want lower taxes, relaxed regulations and reduced antitrust scrutiny.

But they also support free trade and are concerned about societal and geopolitical instability in the face of rising populism and isolationism. In addition, many take a left-leaning stance on social issues such as abortion.

This makes it difficult for this group to find a candidate whose platform completely aligns with their views.

Gulf Coast Bank & Trust CEO Guy T. Williams is a business figure who feels indifferent about voting for either of the two presidential candidates in November.

He says he's worried that former President Trump's plan to impose more tariffs could push up prices and drag on economic growth. But he also isn't sure whether Vice President Harris would be a better choice and is concerned about the prospect of raising corporate taxes.

"Based on Harris' past record, the current vice president is more left-leaning than Biden, and may have a poor understanding of the economy," Williams said.

Is Trump no longer the same Trump?

For some people, it was relatively easy to decide to stand with the Republican Party in 2016.

During the campaign, Trump spent a lot of time talking about his tax cuts and deregulation plans. After he was elected, he surrounded himself with business leaders and appointed former Exxon Mobil Chairman Rex Tillerson and former Goldman Sachs executive Mnuchin as key members of his administration, serving as Secretary of State and Treasury Secretary, respectively, and invited others to serve as members of his advisory council.

However, the power of the populist faction within the Republican Party has been growing over the past few years, which has made many business leaders uneasy, especially since the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. This faction has now become the establishment, and Trump's choice of Vince as his running mate further reinforces this point. Vince is one of the leaders of the "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) movement and has been outspoken in his opposition to Wall Street.

"In the eyes of the financial sector," said Ken Spain, a Republican consultant who advises business leaders, "the difference between Trump 1.0 and Trump 2.0 is getting bigger and bigger. What was once curiosity is now turning into more and more concern."

What also makes some people uneasy is that Trump's tax cuts in 2017 will expire after 2025. But at last month's Republican National Convention, he only briefly mentioned tax issues, apparently without a pre-written speech. This has made some people skeptical about whether he will remain firmly committed to tax cuts after taking office.

Harris also does not reassure people.

For these CEOs, the problem is that Harris may not necessarily offer a better alternative.

Although she has close relationships with some heavyweights in the financial sector, few expect her to be an advocate of Wall Street or business. Like Biden, she has been outspoken in her criticism of Trump's tax cuts for billionaires and big corporations.

It is unclear how she will manage the economy or address antitrust issues, and many believe Lina Khan, the Federal Trade Commission chair appointed by Biden, has overstepped her bounds.

No Labels, a centrist group that attracted many business and Wall Street figures who disliked Trump but thought another Biden term would be equally bad, has previously tried to launch a third-party presidential campaign, but abandoned the effort because it couldn't find candidates willing to run. A private equity executive who had ties to No Labels said,"Biden's going to walk in and people will be so happy, but there're also a fair amount of people who are afraid of Trump or opposed to him."

The debate over which political party is more advantageous for business has even divided Silicon Valley, which was originally left-leaning (supporting the Democratic Party). This time, famous figures such as Tesla's CEO Musk, Andreessen Horowitz founder Marc Andreessen, Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, and former PayPal president David Sacks support Trump.

On the other hand, a long list of other figures, including former Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt, philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, tech investor John Doerr and Ron Conway, as well as LinkedIn co-founder and venture capitalist Reid Hoffman, have pledged to support Harris.

Regardless of who they support or whether they are still undecided, these business and financial leaders generally express the hope that economic policies and geopolitics have stability and predictability.

During Trump's first term, many people lived in fear, fearing that they or their companies or suppliers would be targeted in the tweets he sent late at night. But on the other hand, they also complained that the Biden administration sometimes tries to quickly gain "political scores" on issues such as student loan forgiveness, rather than working to solve more underlying economic problems, such as addressing the deficit or strengthening social security.

Editor/ping