CNN anchor Jake Tapper joked on Wednesday that tech billionaire Elon Musk has become President-elect Donald Trump's "id."
Tapper's quip came during a discussion with congressional reporter Kristen Holmes about House Republican efforts to torpedo a temporary spending bill.
As Holmes noted Musk has become a "mouthpiece" for Trump, Tapper interjected and called Musk Trump's "id," adding: "As if Donald Trump weren't enough of an id."
Holmes continued, saying Musk earlier in the day threatened to primary lawmakers who vote in support of the bill. Musk's opposition came as a surprise to GOP lawmakers, she said.
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Tapper explained to viewers that a "significant number" of GOP lawmakers will not vote for any government spending bill. As such House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) must get enough GOP votes, but also secure enough Democratic votes to pass the bill.
"The way you get Democratic votes is to cut a deal with the Democrats," he said. "And that's what Speaker Johnson was attempting to do."
The next step is unclear — including whether an 11th-hour deal can be reached to raise the national debt limit.
"That is an incredibly complicated negotiation," noted reporter Manu Raju. "Typically it takes months and months to resolve."
And that was before President-elect Donald Trump bashed this bill on social media.
National affairs reporter Jeff Zeleny called the situation with Trump and Musk turning on Johnson's bill "extraordinary" — and a window of things to come for the house speaker.
Calling Musk an "unelected very important ally," Zeleny called it a "mess, quite frankly."
"Is the government going to shut down? I doubt it. But boy, a preview of things to come," he said.
Watch the clip below or at this link.
