In the last 12 months it’s become clear that Musk relies on the same defensive self-aggrandizing bluster that makes Trump so ridiculous. Quite a quick trip down from demigod for him.
Given that Musk and his companies have accomplished some amazing things. Did you see the simultaneous rocket landings? So 'self aggrandizing bluster' may not be the phrase the you're looking for. How about 'low cost, highly effective guerilla marketing' based on past performance?
I'm not sure that quite covers it either, since at least in the case of SpaceX he had a sizable number people rooting for him back when his rockets were still blowing up every time. Back in the Falcon 1 days.
I was one of them. I think rockets are really fucking cool. I think a lot of the leeway and fandom Elon has gotten comes from a hardcore contingent of rocket enthusiasts and electric car enthusiasts who really want to see him succeed because they were already passionate about that domain before Elon entered the picture.