Elon Musk was ridiculed for his vaguely homophobic pledge of devotion to president Donald Trump.
Trump's billionaire benefactor has been called the co-president as his influence over the administration has grown since Inauguration Day, with Musk pushing for the elimination of entire agencies and millions of government jobs, and his allies have been installed in key positions throughout the government, where they control payment systems and troves of highly sensitive data.
Time Magazine unveiled their new cover Friday morning showing Musk sitting at the Resolute Desk, which has been used in the Oval Office by the five most recent presidents, including Trump – and he seemingly tried to remain the elected president's good graces.
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"I love @realDonaldTrump as much as a straight man can love another man," Musk posted on his X platform.
Trump acted like he didn't mind when asked by a reporter whether hed seen the cover.
"Are they still in business?" said the president, who displayed a fake Time Magazine cover dated March 1, 2009, in at least five of his clubs, with the headline: “Donald Trump: The ‘Apprentice’ is a television smash!"
Other social media users saw through Musk's motives, however, and made fun of his loyalty oath.
"You paid enough for him," said The Lincoln Project.
"Reminder: this cover got Steve Bannon booted eight years ago," posted journalist Helen Kennedy, adding a photo of former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon on the cover of Time on Feb. 13, 2017, with the tagline, "The Great Manipulator."
"If anyone still doesn’t understand Elon Musk’s remarks to Donald Trump today — saying he loves him 'as much as a straight man can love another man' and calling him 'the best president in the world' — just take a look at this week’s Time cover," said Uriã Fancelli, international relations analyst. "The magazine placed Musk in the position of the person who truly calls the shots in the United States. And Musk, as clever as he is, knows that Trump’s ego doesn’t tolerate sharing the spotlight. So, he feeds the beast. Of course, it’s still early, and for now, their interests are aligned, but I wouldn’t bet on the longevity of this bromance. Narcissists of this caliber don’t usually accept staying in the background forever. For Trump, that’s going to be a problem."
"Elon probably secretly loves this equally as much as Trump hates this," agreed Bluesky user Plato's Shell, adding the Time cover with Musk on it.
"When the dictionary was making the word 'cringe' this is what it had in mind," added the left-leaning influencers the Krassensteins.