‘Franklin’s Michael Douglas Tells ‘The View’ Why Elon Musk Is Like Benjamin Franklin: “He Liked The Ladies”

Is Elon Musk the brand new Benjamin Franklin? Michael Douglas, who performs the latter within the new AppleTV+ collection Franklin, appears to imagine the 2 have extra in widespread than one would suppose.

The actor stopped by this morning’s episode of The View, the place he defined to the panel why he will get “Elon Musk vibes” from the Founding Father.

“The unpredictability and the brilliance. Frankly, he was sensible. There’s no getting round that — what he achieved,” Douglas mentioned. “However [Franklin] nonetheless had his peccadillos. He favored the women. Elon was identified for that. He was tight — he was a little bit tight.”

Douglas continued, “However Franklin represented — he was the start of the center class. His father was a candle maker and his complete model with that fur hat was all an act. So it was an exceptional determination. It has a variety of parallels to what’s occurring in the present day — most of which, actually, is how fragile our democracy is.”

The star first made the comparability between Franklin and Musk at a Tv Critics Affiliation (TCA) information convention again in February.

“[Franklin] was a little bit little bit of a philanderer; he favored to imbibe. He was a giant flirt. His thought of negotiating was a little bit little bit of a seduction … I felt Elon Musk comparisons,” he mentioned, per Fox Information. “A man who’s barely on the market, but in addition you had been conscious he was so vivid and so educated on so many issues. He was charming. He was taking prisoners.”

Elsewhere in his look on The View, Douglas revealed what he believed Franklin would suppose of the present political local weather — and the Republican nominee dealing with quite a few indictments, particularly.

“I believe he would have a tough time believing it,” he mentioned. “There was a time again then when being a politician was virtually just like the priesthood — it was one thing to sit up for. You had been a public servant.”

Douglas concluded, “Now, in politics, a big half — a minimum of in Washington — it’s often a stepping stone to your personal lobbying job. It’s a really, very irritating time. And I believe we’re all trying ahead to getting by this 12 months.”

The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.