Billionaire Elon Musk was swiftly mocked after President-elect Donald Trump reportedly joked to House Republicans on Wednesday that he "can't get rid of" the man who in recent months has been Trump's most vocal cheerleader.
The Hill reported that Trump said the following when meeting with members of the House GOP:
“Elon won’t go home. I can’t get rid of him. Until I don’t like him.”
Speaking on his MSNBC show, Lawrence O'Donnell made the following observation about the news—that the moment says a lot about Trump's own insecurities:
"For Donald Trump the only thing that matters is what happens in public. The only thing that matters to Donald Trump is how he is seen in public, and so today with Elon Musk tagging along to Donald Trump's meeting with House Republicans, Donald Trump trotted Elon Musk into that room to show House Republicans two things."
"One: 'The richest person in the world is on my side. The richest person in the world can help you or hurt you depending on how helpful you are to me.' But here's the other thing: The richest person in the world is not the most powerful person in the world. That was Donald Trump's message to the House Republicans today, spoken and unspoken."
"What he said out loud about Elon Musk just to demonstrate his power over Elon Musk publicly, just to humiliate Elon Musk publicly as Donald Trump must do, as Donald Trump's twisted psyche demands he do, Donald Trump told all Republican House members, 'Elon won't go home. I can't get rid of him."
"Everyone laughed. They laughed that uncomfortable laugh but they laugh when Donald Trump makes a joke about someone on his team, a joke that everyone knows is true, a joke that paints that person as pathetic, as Donald Trump's personal sense of superiority demands that he do."
"Donald Trump's jealousy about Elon Musk's wealth must eat away at him every second he has to look at the richest person in the world."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
The news of Trump's joke is noteworthy because Musk has reportedly been a frequent presence at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida since the presidential election, with the two often dining together and occasionally playing golf.
Musk has also sat in on Trump’s calls with world leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. His frequent involvement has reportedly unsettled some of Trump’s other advisors, who have described his presence as unusual.
And now people are getting out their popcorn, wondering how long Musk will last before the mercurial Trump gives him the boot.
If Trump's opinion of Musk is souring, the timing is odd given he just named Musk and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy as co-heads of a new "Government Efficiency" department focused on regulating federal spending, the jokes just wrote themselves.
In a statement on Tuesday, Trump announced the creation of the "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE), a name that seems to nod to the dog-themed cryptocurrency popularized by Musk.
For Musk, involvement in a federal role raises potential conflicts of interest, as he could gain influence over agencies regulating his government-funded companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, and Starlink—all of which have also been subject to federal investigations. But Musk and Trump seem well aware of this, which is why the press release announcing the new role specified that DOGE would work "outside of government." So it's not a department at all. And will have absolutely no teeth, it's just for show. Which pretty much says it all about Musk.
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