Even Musk’s Money Can’t Buy The Benefits Of Married Parents

I’ve tried and failed for nearly two months to keep my articles and my X feed clear of Elon Musk’s latest baby mama drama. But alas, I have finally fallen prey to the tangled web and can no longer keep silent about the consequences the wealthiest man in the world and self-proclaimed conservative influencer Ashley St. Clair have brought on their allegedly shared son.

The most recent development that caught my eye was a clip of St. Clair selling her Tesla. The electric vehicle was reportedly one of several lavish perks, including a “glitzy Manhattan pad” and a “security detail,” that Musk gifted her during their months-long tryst.

In the clip, St. Clair explains to a probing cameraman that she is getting rid of her ride to “make up for the 60 percent cut that Elon made to our child support.” Within hours, Musk responded to the video claiming that while he was unsure of St. Clair’s child’s paternity, he was “not against finding out” — even without a court order.

“Despite not knowing for sure, I have given Ashley $2.5M and am sending her $500k/year,” Musk continued.

St. Clair, who has not posted on X since she dropped the baby bombshell on Feb. 14th, did not publicly dispute Musk’s statement.

A juicy $2.5 million plus $500,000 a year isn’t a bad gig for a jilted woman raising a kid in a luxury condo. Not even a seemingly never-ending flow of Benjamins, however, can replace the role of a father in his son’s life.

The easier way Musk and St. Clair could have spared the world their social media child support spat is if they had only procreated within the bounds of marriage. When a man and woman who vowed to love and cherish each other “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health … till death us do part” in front of God and man have a child, they don’t have to worry about tracking each other down to confirm paternity or compensate each other to make up for the child’s loss of a parent’s presence.

The best predictor for a child’s financial, physical, emotional, educational, and social health and success is whether he was born to and raised by his married biological parents. Children who grow up without their married biological mother and father, on the other hand, have clear physical, emotional, and educational disadvantages.

Boys specifically, like St. Clair’s son and several of Musk’s 13 other children, who spend key developmental years in fatherless homes, are less likely to graduate and more prone to criminal acts and violence.

The wedding of marriage and parenthood is not beneficial for kids alone. Married men and women who have kids are the most likely demographic to report being “very happy” with their lives. Unmarried mothers like St. Clair, however, are the least likely to be very happy.

Had Musk and St. Clair simply kept it in their pants unless they were committed to marriage, not only would the world be spared a front seat to their relationship problems, but they and their alleged kid would be better off.

Instead, X and corporate media outlets are once again lit up with a play-by-play of the rift and the child, who is not even one year old, is now the victim of an ugly, publicized battle to buy Musk out of fatherhood and buy St. Clair social media love.

Marriage, not money, not Teslas, not swanky living quarters, and certainly not media attention, is what Musk and St. Clair’s child needed most from them. On that front, and many others, it seems from the public fallout, they failed him.

Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on X @jordanboydtx.