3w ago

Trump downplays talk of Elon Musk’s increasing influence in Republican politics

www.theguardian.com Trump downplays talk of Elon Musk’s increasing influence in Republican politics

Musk’s intervention helped derail a crucial government funding bill, but some political observers question how long the alliance can last

Summary

Donald Trump dismissed concerns over Elon Musk’s growing influence in Republican politics, telling supporters Musk cannot be president due to being foreign-born.

Musk recently played a key role in derailing a government funding bill, with critics dubbing him “President Musk.”

His $250M support for Trump’s campaign and appointment to co-lead a new efficiency office have raised conflict-of-interest concerns, particularly over Tesla’s ties to China.

Tensions could emerge over Ukraine, where Musk’s Starlink supports the war effort Trump vows to end.

43 comments

This is working far better than 'weird' did.
Spread 'em far and wide folks!
- I ran across something from a recent Some More News segment that said "weird" was working but it recently came out that some advisor in the Harris campaign (named Geoff Garin) said to stop doing it and pivot to trying to pick up the "moderate gop" vote (whatever tf that means). I guess he was responding to people criticizing him on blue sky by saying basically "you don't know shit".
  https://youtu.be/Z8R4XeNcHu8?t=19m44s
  https://bsky.app/profile/geoffgarin.bsky.social
  
  It's a bold strategy to go from something that's working to something that has never worked ever.
  
  Well the "moderate GOP" seems to be the target demographic for the DNC, so this statement completely tracks.
- Bit late, no?
  
  Internal strife for them is damage control for us.

President musk isn’t going to be happy hearing how his secretary Trump is trying to take power from him
- Secretary? I thought Donald was a low level coffee boy
  
  *Covfefe boy
  
  He's more of a mascot, like Morn in DS9, but not as good looking

I don't think Trump understands the joke. No one is saying Musk is literally president, the point is he is so influential over Trump that he is calling the shots behind the scenes. Whether or not Musk is eligible to be president is irrelevant.
- That's why it's working. It's such obvious provocation, but he's so insecure he can't resist it anyway
  
  Yeah I've been taking every opportunity to call him President Musk because I know that once this hits critical mass, it's going to destroy the partnership between these two walking egos. Keep repeating it every chance you get.
- I don’t think Trump understands
  You coulda stopped there. The only things Trump understands being sucked up to and sexual assault.

Foreign-born? You mean immigrant!
- Actually, he is an illegal immigrant.
  The reason this is relevant is because he has spent the better part of a year complaining about “illegal immigrants” who are “invading” the country. But an old video from 2013 resurfaced on Saturday that appears to show the billionaire admitting he was at one point building his small business in the country illegally, describing it as a “gray area.”
  Video set to the timestamp where they talk about his "gray area."
  Here's a link to an article talking about it: https://gizmodo.com/watch-elon-musk-talk-about-being-illegal-immigrant-1851376973

Downplay like Project 2025? Both are taking orders and advice from Moscow.

If I were one of the writers for this upcoming season, I would give Trump a redemption arc. Musk's millions of dollars of influence would render Putin's influence unnecessary, and Trump comes out and pushes a hard line on Russia over Ukraine. Trump also sees the popular opinion against the health care system, pardons Luigi, and appoints him Secretary of Health once RFK Jr's brain worm shoots out of his skull live on TV during his Senate hearing. And he finally has his Infrastructure Week, all these years later.
- You should open a window if you want to paint or varnish.
- Are you breaking kayfabe?

What a timeline. That thumbnail alone screams satire, but is all too real.

Extreme wealth is a disease that needs to be eradicated

So what are the chances that the MAGA Cult becomes a Musk Cult?
I mean I'm all for making Trump feel small, but... What are the risks here?
- Biggest risk is that musk isn't very likely to keel over and drop dead in the next 4 years due to age and lifestyle.
  Trump probably won't either, but he's Hella more likely to.

"Don't worry Mr Trump, Mr Musk wants to become Czar of the whole western world, of course he'll let you be his president of the United States."

Who needs to be president? Dance for me, orange man.

I was hoping this was a new report, damn. It would be great if he was denying it multiple days a row.

So if Trump decides he’s had enough and executes Musk as an official act, that’s the best thing he’s ever done right? Even if it’s for petty reasons and sets insanely bad precedents for presidential power it’s still a net good to rid Elon from the world of influence
- Mathematically, probably yes.
  Ethically and morally, debatable.
  
  I expect the best bang for the moral-buck would be him committing suicide at this point. He won’t though.
- Broken clock and all that.
  Though I don't think Trump will official act him. He's far too rich. Trump knows where his bread is buttered and isn't going to risk Musk's ire.
  Trump needs Musk far more than Musk needs him
  
  Yeah, as soon as Trump tries something like that, he's no longer a useful idiot, and all the actual old money, that he's so desperate to suck up to, will destroy him
- Yay murder.

Did he ask elon if that was okay for him to do though? Dipshit donny is gonna get CHEWED OUT for talking out of turn about the boss...

Lying liars who lie.

Seems like a desperate attempt to create a narrative that justifies seething petulance. It's funny, and mostly why liberals got btfo in the polls.

43 comments