On his way out of the White House door, Elon Musk criticized the so-called "big, beautiful bill" sought by president Donald Trump and passed by House Republicans, but a CNN panelist cast doubt on his sincerity.
The tech mogul told CBS "Sunday Morning" that he was "like, disappointed" in what he described as a "massive spending bill" that undermined the work of his Department of Government Efficiency, but panelists on "CNN This Morning" disagreed about Musk's intentions.
"Let's face it, there are a lot of Senate conservatives who want to see changes to the 'big, beautiful bill,' as well," said Rob Bluey, executive editor of The Heritage Foundation's "Daily Signal" website. "More spending cuts and other reforms that the House didn't make, and so I think that there's room to do that. I think one of the most important things that members of Congress can do to make sure that Elon Musk's work with DOGE does not go to waste, is to codify a lot of those cuts in a rescission package that's coming to Congress soon."
EXCLUSIVE: Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in shade
Journalist Lourdes Garcia-Navarro disagreed, saying Musk was only trying to create distance between himself and the president for the benefit of both of them.
"Can I just be honest, please?" Garcia-Navarro said. "Elon Musk made those comments, I think, because he believes them, but also because he is on his own press tour to try and save himself from his own reputational damage because Americans found what he did very, very unnerving. They didn't like it, and he is very unpopular. It's hurt his core businesses, which he's now going back to. He's been on a press tour trying to really remediate this. So part of that is to show some separation between him and the administration that he has been so closely tied to."
Trump announced a White House media event Friday afternoon to formalize Musk's departure from his government role, saying with a plethora of commas that "this will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way," adding, "Elon is terrific," and journalist Sara Fischer said the pair would likely remain close.
"I think you're going to see a very friendly departure here," said Fischer, a media correspondent for Axios. "Donald Trump needs Elon Musk. Elon Musk controls one of the most powerful social discourse platforms in the world, and underneath Musk, it's been very positive for conservatives, so I don't think you're going to see much tension. I think you're going to see a very positive sendoff."
- YouTubeyoutu.be
