U.S. President Donald Trump's adviser Elon Musk waves on the day of a rally in support of a conservative state Supreme Court candidate of an April 1 election in Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S. March 30, 2025. REUTERS/Vincent Alban TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Tech billionaire Elon Musk committed a faux pas in Wisconsin over the weekend, said a former campaign advisor to President George W. Bush.
Musk was in Wisconsin as part of his multi-million-dollar effort to elect a far-right judge, who he said could change the world. But one of his first actions was to take the stage and put on the traditional cheesehead hat.
The large wedge of cheese atop the heads of Wisconsin sports fans became an idea in 1987 after Ralph Bruno was "inspired" by the derogatory term "cheesehead" used by rival teams, ESPN reported in 2011.
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Putting on the hat "was not a smart thing to do in Wisconsin," said former media advisor Mark McKinnon on MSNBC.
"I got my butt kicked by Tommy Thompson (R-WI), the [former] governor there when I was with [then]-Gov. Bush, then coming to campaign in Wisconsin," recalled McKinnon.
He confessed he thought it might be cool of Bush came off the campaign plane wearing the cheesehead hat.
"And, man, he just ripped me and said, 'You don't do that in Wisconsin. We do that here, but you don't come from outside and put on a cheesehead. That's cultural appropriation,'" recalled McKinnon.
Thompson was ultimately appointed as Bush's Health and Human Services secretary in 2001. He had been the governor for 14 years.
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