1 of 4 | Entrepreneur and U.S. special government employee Elon Musk appears at the Conservative Political Action Conference at National Harbor, Md., on Thursday. The Conservative Political Action Conference is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States and beyond. Photo by Will Oliver/UPI | License Photo
Elon Musk took to the stage to raucous applause and a standing ovation as he held a chainsaw over his head during his appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference meeting Thursday in Maryland.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been informally assigned by President Donald Trump to root out “waste” and “fraud” in the federal bureaucracy, but seemingly with little to no regard on how those cuts are affecting scientific research, data privacy or the personal lives of thousands of employees who have been laid off with no notice. Advertisement
Musk appeared on stage with the chainsaw that was given to him by members of CPAC, sporting a gold chain, a black MAGA hat, sunglasses, and a black T-shirt that warns about the dangers of procrastinating.
Republicans have rallied behind Musk as he has cut federal grants, eliminated government-backed diversity programs, reduced the size of the government workforce, and cut funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Advertisement
While not officially part of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, Musk, his supporters and detractors alike say, wields tremendous influence over it.
While support for Musk was widespread and loud, it was non-unanimous, especially among some of the most high profile members of the GOP, one of whom took the stage just after Musk.
“How did I draw the card to follow Elon Musk? Come on, man,” Trump supporter and Republican operative Steve Bannon said, calling Musk “the world’s wealthiest guy” and “Superman.” “I’m just a crazy Irishman,” Bannon said jokingly.
Bannon has been highly critical of Musk and his slash-and-burn tactics but was largely non-controversial in his remarks Thursday, making only glancing references to the SpaceX CEO and remaining self-effacing in the process.
Bannon said people would not remember the names of most of those involved in this unusual and unprecedented time in American politics and that history “ain’t gonna remember me or Elon Musk or Tucker Carlson or Sean Hannity,” Bannon said. “They’re gonna remember two things, Donald Trump and MAGA, OK?”
Musk was hyper partisan in his remarks, arguing that his political transformation from being left of center to being a critical component of the staunchly conservative GOP system happened “when I realized I was a fool,” he said. Advertisement
Musk, among the richest people in the world, said he is above the influence of special interest money and downplayed concerns over his access to sensitive data and information on Americans’ social services.
“If I steal some Social Security, I can finally buy nice things,” Musk said jokingly. He also jested, saying that “he can’t afford me” when asked about the potential influence of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
