It’s giving highschool cafeteria vitality — if the cafeteria served EV tax credit and Oval Workplace selfies. Simply days after Elon Musk all however known as for Donald Trump’s impeachment and accused him of being within the Epstein recordsdata, the 2 reality-show-level egos are already backpedaling.
In keeping with Politico, a scheduled name between the eccentric billionaire and the four-time indicted, 34-time convicted felon president suggests their bitter social media conflict could have simply been a light-weight quarrel over management and money.
However let’s be very clear, this isn’t a case of ethical reckoning or sudden enlightenment. Elon Musk just isn’t having a disaster of conscience; he’s having a disaster of management, and like many others, he made the deadly mistake of pondering he was the exception to Trump’s transactional nature relatively than simply one other pawn within the grift.
In spite of everything, Musk didn’t go nuclear on Trump due to kids in cages, Muslim bans, or stolen categorized paperwork; he flipped when Trump’s “One Large, Stunning Invoice” threatened his backside line. EV tax breaks vanished, and abruptly Musk remembered Trump had a black e-book, blowing up the connection with Epstein name-drops and impeachment retweets — however didn’t stick the touchdown. As a result of now, like a bro left on learn, he’s crawling again, pretending like none of it occurred. Cue the spineless “we received’t decommission Dragon” tweet prefer it’s a peace providing and never harm management.
This isn’t two ideological titans duking it out for the soul of the GOP, it’s two power-hungry egomaniacs squabbling over who will get to name the photographs, and let’s not overlook that Elon basically bragged — with out straight saying so — about rigging the final election.
“With out me, Trump would have misplaced,” Musk posted.
The feud underscores what we’ve recognized all alongside, that Musk and Trump aren’t enemies however as an alternative mirror photographs combating over the identical coin. Each males peddle “anti-establishment” rhetoric whereas clinging to the very methods they declare to hate. Cosplaying as populists whereas funneling billions into their empires and blaming “the elites” whereas having brunch with them. Once they work collectively, they burn bridges, and after they combat, they burn the remainder of the constructing down.
Don’t let the short-term fallout distract you from Musk’s lengthy historical past of aligning himself with white nationalist speaking factors and fascist-adjacent iconography. This is identical man who gleefully threw up a Nazi salute at a public occasion — not as soon as, however a number of occasions.
The identical man who pushed the parable of a “white farmer genocide” in South Africa to stoke racial panic and justify immigration for apartheid-loving Afrikaners.
Musk’s rage isn’t rooted in morality; it’s frustration that Trump stopped catering to him. The daddy of 14 spent practically $300 million serving to Trump get re-elected, popped up on the marketing campaign path in MAGA merch, and led the so-called Division of Authorities Effectivity (DOGE), which was principally a taxpayer-funded hatchet job on federal oversight. Now, Musk is getting the identical “you’re fired” remedy as everybody else who dared to consider they’re extra essential than the Trump model.
Let’s not neglect how not too long ago Musk was posing within the Oval Workplace along with his son on his shoulders as he was being praised by Trump as one of many “biggest innovators ever.” However an EV mandate rollback later, and abruptly Musk needs to play martyr for the deficit, and Trump is asking to chop Musk’s authorities contracts to save lots of the nation billions—whereas nonetheless blaming the very fact Musk’s contracts haven’t been terminated on former President Joe Biden. However even that narrative crumbles underneath scrutiny as a result of neither is anxious about actual fiscal duty, simply regulatory revenge.
The reality is, the Trump/Musk “feud” is simply one other grift cycle. The identical cycle we’ve seen with Rudy Giuliani, Steve Bannon, and each different high-profile Trump defector who ultimately will get caught holding the bag. All of them assume they’re enjoying 4D chess till they notice the board is rigged and the one rule is loyalty to Trump, not reality, not nation, and definitely not logic.
Republicans in Congress are already choosing sides, however let’s not fake that is some tectonic social gathering shift. Most GOP lawmakers are siding with Trump, not as a result of they consider him, however as a result of they concern him. As one unnamed Home member admitted, “Elon can burn $5 million in a major, however Trump’s endorsement (or lack thereof) can destroy a political profession.”That’s not energy rooted in management, it’s extortion wrapped in purple, white, and blue.
However simply as abruptly because it started, it’s already softening. Politico studies the 2 males are again in communication. Trump says it’s “going very effectively,” and Musk is backpedaling like a person who realized he simply slapped the hand that feeds NASA billions. As a result of on the finish of the day, it was by no means in regards to the individuals, the insurance policies, and even the politics; it was about energy — who will get it, who retains it, and who can wield it for private achieve.
Don’t get distracted by the drama. The true hazard isn’t that they’re combating; it’s that they had been ever on the identical aspect to start with. Two peas in a poisoned pod, each pretending to be patriots whereas enjoying tug-of-war with America’s future.
Spoiler alert: neither one in all them is combating for us.
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