- Elon Musk tried to play down his role in tanking a government spending bill on Thursday.
- Democrats have started calling him “President Musk,” in a move likely to frustrate Donald Trump.
- “Trump must absolutely hate the whole President Musk thing,” one commentator said.
Elon Musk has tried to downplay his influence in helping tank a government funding bill, and after Democrats started referring to him as “President Musk.”
In a series of X posts on Thursday night, Musk tried to distance himself from Democrats’ claims that he is now the de facto leader of the Republican Party.
Musk, who will co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency under President-elect Donald Trump, had criticized the first version of the spending bill earlier this week, calling for it to be “killed.”
A revised spending bill that he helped usher in then failed to get enough votes, potentially setting the stage for a government shutdown.
“Objectively, the vast majority of Republican House members voted for the spending bill, but only 2 Democrats did,” Musk wrote in response. “Therefore, if the government shuts down, it is obviously the fault of @RepJeffries and the Democratic Party.”
Before the vote, Musk had posted: “First of all, I’m not the author of this proposal. Credit to @realDonaldTrump, @JDVance & @SpeakerJohnson.”
All but 38 House Republicans voted for the revised bill, but it fell short of the two-thirds majority required to extend government funding until March.
Democrats seized on the opportunity to embarrass Trump by portraying him as a subordinate of Musk.
Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania said, “The leader of the GOP is Elon Musk,” adding, “He’s now calling the shots.”
Rep. Greg Casar of Texas asked if Musk was “kind of cosplaying co-President here,” adding, “I don’t know why Trump doesn’t just hand him the Oval Office.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democratic member on the House Appropriations Committee, said Republicans “got scared” because “President Musk said: ‘Don’t do it — shut the government down.'”
Others also weighed in.
“Welcome to the Elon Musk presidency,” Rep. Robert Garcia of California said in a post on Thursday.
“It’s clear who’s in charge, and it’s not President-elect Donald Trump,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington added.
After Thursday’s vote, Musk reacted favorably to a post that said the reason Democrats keep saying “President” Elon Musk was to “drive a wedge” between him and Trump.
Charlie Sykes, a political commentator and author of “How the Right Lost Its Mind,” wrote that Musk had committed two cardinal sins: “upstaging” Trump and being responsible for an “embarrassing defeat.”
“Trump must absolutely hate the whole President Musk thing,” he added.
