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The long-standing knock against Elon Musk is that he is a distracted leader, pulled in too many directions as a multi-CEO, professional poster, and a quarrelsome big-mouth. Anxious Tesla shareholders have urged him to focus on the business, and sympathetic critics warned that his antics are a needless distress — a stain on his record of ambition and industriousness. Even trolling wasn’t worth a sliding stock price.

But his recent turn as a figure on the campaign trail and as a high-profile Trump ally sheds new light on the “distraction” critique. Musk advancing his political agenda isn’t an incidental diversion that comes at the cost of his companies. His advocacy serves his business aims, even if he sacrifices some goodwill in the process.

Musk’s new million-dollar lottery for registered voters — pledging to give $1 million a day to swing state voters who sign his PAC’s petition backing the Constitution — has drawn scrutiny leading up to Tesla earnings.

The electric vehicle maker reported a profit beat after the bell Wednesday, sending shares higher. That has complicated the contention that Musk’s political scheming has detracted from the company’s operations.

But lingering revenue concerns hit especially hard after some observers criticized Tesla’s robotaxi event earlier this month as "stunningly absent on detail."

Tesla shares are down more than 10% over the past three months. In the most unflattering interpretation, the world’s richest man is bankrolling election bribery shenanigans in plain view just as his publicly traded company is riding out a slump.

Next to the major commitments his company SpaceX has tied up in federal contracts and the additional power he would wield in a second Trump administration, questions of whether Musk’s actions violate election law seem almost quaint in comparison. (Musk has donated at least $75 million through his America PAC in support of Trump and other Republicans. Should the former president win the election, he aims to put Musk in charge of a government efficiency commission.)

As Musk and his supporters have repeatedly shown, the concept of negative attention doesn’t really apply. Good news is good news, and bad news is a reason to look elsewhere or even buy and reshape a social media company.

What is so wrong about a political fealty sweepstakes, anyways? Musk’s backers have swooned over his cars, his rocket ships, and his memes, so why not enjoy his money too?