Maintaining the public face of these people is a full time job.
None of the people in the media are really like what they show us on our screens. It's all entertainment. Much of it in the service of business interests, like Elon. Do his politics lean right? Sure why not. Does he also lean left? Probably. We're all not 1 dimensional. Getting us to "fill in the blank" and project our own ideas into their personality is how they hook you.
The public / promotional image caters the 1-D chess crowd.
The fact people let this stuff influence major purchase decisions like a car is endlessly entertaining to me.
The appeal of celebrity used to be mostly confined to teenage spheres, bored housewives, and old people. But now in the digital era having a public image has become a spectator sport, and we get emotionally caught up rooting for the team we've chosen. This is how they win people.
For the younger of you reading this, I'm letting you know it didn't use to be this way. Nobody cares much about what car you drive or why.