Tesla CEO and PayPal billionaire Elon Musk surprised many Friday when he declared on Twitter that he is a socialist. Conservative critics, however, may well have agreed, given his companies’ reliance on the state.

Musk tweeted his declaration Friday after first tweeting that socialists have no sense of humor:

Those who proclaim themselves “socialists” are usually depressing, have no sense of humor & attended an expensive college. Fate loves irony. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 15, 2018

When challenged to define his own ideology, however, Musk said he was a “socialist”:

A socialist — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 15, 2018

He then expanded on that declaration, adding a joke:

“No sense of humor” is certainly proving itself true. Good grief!

How many socialists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

Answer: That’s not funny!! — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 16, 2018

Musk then responded to the latter tweet by declaring:

By the way, I am actually a socialist. Just not the kind that shifts resources from most productive to least productive, pretending to do good, while actually causing harm. True socialism seeks greatest good for all. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 16, 2018

Left-wing critics on Twitter weren’t having it:

the only kind of socialist is one who wants workers to own the means of production so no actually you aren’t a socialist. also fuck you — Kath Barbadoro (@kathbarbadoro) June 17, 2018

If you are a socialist then why are you against your workers having collective bargaining rights?

Why do you speed up lines at your California plant at the cost of your workers safety?

That does not sound like the greatest good for all, Mr. Musk. — This Machine Kills Fascists (@stlwrkr4889) June 17, 2018

Then you must certainly also believe in reparations for African Americans. You know… since you believe those that produce the wealth should enjoy the wealth. I agree. Where’s our check?? — LaTosha Brown (@MsLaToshaBrown) June 17, 2018

Conservatives have often criticized Musk in the past for relying heavily on government for his companies’ success. Tesla, for example, has consistently lost money — except where it has been able to sell carbon emissions permits provided by the State of California. It also received a loan from the federal government during the bailout era in 2009.

Last week, Musks’s Boring Company won a bid with another government, the City of Chicago, to build a “hyperloop” train from downtown to O’Hare International Airport.

However, poor production at Tesla, and recent reports of technical problems — such as the car of actress Mary McCormack’s husband allegedly shooting flames in traffic — have hurt the company, and put Musk under heavy public pressure.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He was named to Forward’s 50 “most influential” Jews in 2017. He is the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.