Alyssa Farah Griffin, the former White House communications director during President Donald Trump's first term, responded to the Friday New York Times report that Elon Musk is causing consternation among the Cabinet.
Behind closed doors, Secretaries Marco Rubio and Sean Duffy fought back against Musk's attempted cuts of their departments, which resulted in Musk accusing them of not doing more to fire more members of the federal civil service.
"So, I've long thought that the Elon-Trump relationship would eventually implode... like a SpaceX rocket over Florida this past weekend, and I think that's coming," said Griffin.
"Listen," she continued, "Donald Trump tweeted or posted on X over the weekend that Elon should take a scalpel to government rather than a hatchet, which is welcomed because the Veterans Affairs Department is gearing up to fire [over] 70,000 staff. That is going to impact veterans who are already having trouble getting their benefits from the VA. There's already a backlog."
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She also pointed out that approximately 30% of the federal workforce are veterans.
"So, vets are being disproportionately impacted by these across-the-board mass firings, and secretaries know their departments better," Griffin said.
She praised Duffy and Rubio for being brave enough to step up, saying, "We can't be firing FAA monitors right now when planes are falling out of the sky. So, I think it's helpful pushback, but also, when things inevitably go wrong, Trump is going to fire those secretaries. It is their job to advocate for their agencies."
Ana Navarro, a one-time Republican strategist, said that she saw Rubio over the weekend at the funeral of Lincoln Díaz-Balart.
"Frankly, Marco Rubio is standing on his shoulders because of the doors that people like Lincoln Díaz-Balart," said Navarro. She noted Díaz-Balart served in Congress for 18 years and was the second Cuban-American to be elected to Congress.
Her theory about Rubio, however, is that he is leaking stories about his resistance to Musk.
"The things that are happening are things that Marco has advocated against his entire career," she said. "The policy towards Ukraine of abandoning Ukraine and talking up Cuba, that's so against Marco's grain. Negotiating with [Venezuelan President Nicolás] Maduro and eliminating [temporary protected status] for Venezuelans. He's fought for TPS, and against Maduro. Removing foreign aid from dissident groups in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. This is what he's doing in the senate."
Now, she said, he looks "feckless, ineffective, and hypocritical with every belief he's held in his entire life."
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