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Elon Musk’s unmatched ability to weaponize his social media platform, X, against politicians who defy his wishes came into focus Thursday, as Musk helped kill a bipartisan agreement to fund the government beyond Friday.
That’s led some critics of President-elect Donald Trump to highlight how secondary he appears in comparison to Musk, as “President Musk” references proliferate online. Democrats and their allies have taken up the moniker and shared images depicting Trump as Musk’s servant or sidekick.
Take this picture posted by Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, for example:
More examples here, here and here.
Team Trump doesn’t seem happy about all this mockery and talk of Musk’s power. In a post on Thursday to the social media platform he owns, Musk tried to downplay claims he’s running the Republican Party, despite his hourslong tweet storm slamming the bipartisan deal House Speaker Mike Johnson had struck. And Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt issued a statement to multiple media outlets on Thursday, trying to quell the “President Musk” talk and insisting that Trump is still in charge of his party.
“As soon as President Trump released his official stance on the [continuing resolution], Republicans echoed his point of view,” Leavitt said. “President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. Full stop.”
But if your spokespeople are having to issue public declarations that no, really, you’re the one in charge, then it’s only because that isn’t as obvious as it should be. Needless to say, Musk is not actually president (and under the Constitution, as currently written, he can’t be, as someone who isn’t a natural-born citizen).
One problem for Trump is that he has billed his massive wealth and huge audience as indicators of power, in politics or out. Remember when he ran for president against Hillary Clinton and claimed that his wealth afforded him control over every politician to whom he’d donated? And remember when, around that same time, he bragged about his large social media following?
The tables, it appears, have turned.
Now Trump is the establishment politician he used to condemn, whose power is eclipsed by a well-heeled outsider. And he seems every bit as willing to engage in some quid pro quo with his wealthy benefactors — including Musk — as he portrayed the Clintons to be. Musk has substantially more money than Trump and, thanks to his acquisition of Twitter, a much louder megaphone. The Washington Post recently published a report that showed Musk’s audience on social media dwarfs all other politicians, Trump included.
So despite the fact that Musk isn’t the president, it seems pretty clear that, if wealth and influence are the measure of power that Trump claimed they are, it’s Musk who’s in a position to steer the ship that is the Republican Party.