He absolutely was. Early on, there was literally nothing Elon could say or do that would make Fred question Elon’s integrity or genius. The change in Elon’s relationship with Fred came when Fred finally actually owned a Tesla vehicle and realized it was a piece of shit. He had the audacity to ask Elon questions about quality problems people were reporting and Fred finally believed, on open Twitter, which got Elon to block Fred temporarily at least. What happened next in the community is the most predictable thing ever, as the True Believers turned on Fred and accused him of everything under the sun.