I never got the Elon Musk angle. It’s like the Ultimate Fighting Championship; there’s some younger demographic in play that I may be too old to relate to. That’s not really fair. Lots of older people admire—and even place some kind of genius-adjacent faith—in Musk’s talent and abilities. President Trump, who I voted for thrice, surely did. The gifts Musk brought to the table, rocket reentry and electric motor vehicles, never jibed with my sense of what good policymaking and statesmanship is supposed to look and act like.
The scruffy clothes, the spectrum-evincing speech patterns, the awkward gesturing (I never believed he made the Nazi salute), always seemed counter-politic. And now we see that my gut instinct was correct. This brilliant man is a political nightmare. This noise he’s making about starting a third party is third-grade spiteful and adult folly.
I had no knowledge of Musk until he showed up in Trump’s orbit. People who amass wealth with products, systems, etc. don’t interest me; leadership, problem-solving, and bold policymaking do. When Musk became part of the second Trump administration’s loop, it was, “Who is this guy and why is he in the Trump White House?” When he was appointed DOGE-czar I did extend him a theoretical benefit of the doubt. If he and his team of young tech wunderkinds could slash government waste and save billions, I was onboard despite misgivings about his style and dearth of political savvy.
Then Musk came up against the reality of the U.S. government—spending will always be with us. Constituencies and pork are part of what makes America’s trains run on time, and its debt to skyrocket like a SpaceX spacecraft. The only way out of national insolvency is a combination of energy hegemony, border security, and prosperity. When DOGE’s sweeping cuts were questioned, and news of previously canned administrative rehires broke, a disillusionment grew in the mind of the world’s richest man. Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” was apparently the last straw. He’s gone more rogue than Sarah Palin ever did.
This isn’t the first time individuals brought into the Trump fold inspired unease and perplexity. My sense when gadabout “advisor” Anthony Scaramucci was appointed Press Secretary was negative, and proved correct. Future tell-all-author and ingrate Omarosa, brought into the Trump’s Office of Public Liaison in 2017? Timid and vacillating former Senator and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, turncoat Gov. Chris Christie, the list goes on. And now Musk, verging on a tantrum and threatening a doomed new political party.
When looking for an independent political opinion, I listen to Old Guard Republicans like Newt Gingrich or Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy. When interested in Trump Administration policy specifics, I tune in to Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. For analysis from a media figure, its Bill O’ Reilly or Newsmax host Greg Kelly. If I want an off-beat take, Ted Nugent is the interviewee of choice.
In my view, Elon Musk, for all his indisputable genius, doesn’t fit in the lineup, never really earned his proximity. He was always an odd sort, coming into the limelight with a black eye. I hope he’s offstage, permanently.