House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) held a press conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday where he revealed that Elon Musk ignored his phone call to discuss Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill."
On Tuesday, just days after formally leaving his post as de facto leader of the Department of Government Efficiency, Musk posted on his social media platform X, "I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it."
"Well, I'll tell you, I called Elon last night but he didn't answer," Johnson told reporters. "But I hope to talk to him today. I mean, it's not, you know — he's very friendly and we've laughed about our differences on policy before. I'm not upset about this."
Johnson continued, "I think he understands, and he's acknowledged to me before, that this is so serious that we can't fool around with it. I mean, the debt cliff is approaching very quickly, right? All the things in this bill are so important for the U.S. economy. It's going to be jet fuel for the U.S. economy. All boats are going to rise. The sooner we do that the better, and the risk of not getting it done is enormous...I think Elon understands the way to that and I hope he comes around. I'd love to talk to him this week and I hope he calls me back today."
Journalist Aaron Rupar described Johnson as looking "physically pained as a reporter asks him about Elon Musk's threats against Republicans who vote for the reconciliation bill."
In a separate post, Rupar wrote, "Mike Johnson says Musk is ghosting him."
The X account Call to Activism wrote, "You know your party’s in chaos when even your billionaire puppetmasters are leaving you on read."
Journalist Brian Allen wrote, "Mike Johnson getting ghosted by Elon Musk after bending over backwards to carry water for him is chef’s kiss poetic. You sold your spine for a retweet and now you’re out here begging for callbacks like a side character in a bad HBO drama. Elon got what he wanted and now he’s treating you like every Tesla recall: ignoring it until the damage is public."
The account of @Corey296429 referenced a Carly Rae Jepsen song when they wrote, "Here's my number call me maybe lmao."
Musk hasn't publicly commented so far.
Watch the clip below or click the link here.