Team Trump Forced to Clarify That Elon Musk Is Not the President

Welcome back to Barf Bag. 

Billionaire edgelord Elon Musk spent more than $200 million to help get Donald Trump elected to a second term, leading to people referring to him as the "shadow president." The Tesla CEO was running his own shady door-knocking operation for Trump and even funded a deeply cynical PAC comparing Trump's stance on abortion to that of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Trump won, and now Musk's meddling has reached new heights.

Congress was set to pass a short-term budget bill this week in order avert a government shutdown before Christmas. (Such a bill is known as a "continuing resolution" and this one would have funded the government for three months until the next Congress could write its own budget with Trump's approval.) The bipartisan proposal was brokered by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La), but apparently Musk didn't like it—and what billionaire daddy wants, it appears he gets.

He posted about the bill more than 100 times on Wednesday, falsely claiming that it would fund “bioweapon labs” and give members of Congress a much bigger pay raise than in reality, and allocate $3 billion for a new NFL stadium in Washington.

Musk said that any Republican who voted for it should lose their job in the 2026 midterms. This isn't exactly an empty threat given that Musk has already pledged to fund primaries against House members who don't support Trump's Cabinet nominees. Since the election, his wealth has soared to more than $440 billion—he's got the money to control U.S. politics.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1869446782574645386

Later on Wednesday, Trump said he also opposed the bill. Asked to explain why he let Musk oppose the bill first, an anonymous Trump transition team official told NBC News that the president-elect was playing 4D chess. “He let everyone wonder what he wanted to do. All eyes were on him. When he moved, it was over. He’s president before becoming president.” Uh-huh.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote on Twitter that "the richest man on Earth, President Elon Musk" was effectively running the government.

https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/1869510057047801991

Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost (D) wrote on Bluesky that the SpaceX CEO is the country's "unelected co-president."

https://bsky.app/profile/maxwellfrost.bsky.social/post/3ldmchrizp223

Which is why it's so embarrassing that Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt released this statement on Thursday: “As soon as President Trump released his official stance on the CR, Republicans on Capitol Hill echoed his point of view. President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party. Full stop.” He's not mad, don't print it in the newspaper that he's mad.

Meanwhile, a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found that 53% of those surveyed disapprove of Musk having a prominent role in the Trump administration.

The government is set to shut down at 12:01 am Saturday unless a bill miraculously passes today.

Trump-related barf:

• Trump said Monday that he was open to pardoning New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who he claimed was "treated pretty unfairly." [Politico]
• Billionaires Liz and Dick Uihlein had a pro-Trump PAC that ran ads about an immigrant “invasion” at the U.S.-Mexico border, but sources say their shipping supply company Uline employed Mexican workers who weren't authorized to work in the U.S. [The Guardian]
• Trump's embattled defense secretary pick, Pete Hegseth, has claimed that the January 6 riot was a false flag attack by "antifa folks" dressed as MAGA supporters. [CNN]
• Melania Trump is hawking $90 "Merry Christmas, AMERICA!" star ornaments with her signature engraved on the back. [Vanity Fair]
• Sentient eczema patch Steve Bannon suggested that Trump should run again in 2028 for an unconstitutional third term. [Politico]
• Trump has offered jobs to eight bootlickers who lost their elections since 2022, including Kelly Loeffler, Herschel Walker, Kari Lake, and Dr. Mehmet Oz. [NBC News]

Non-Trump barf:

• A federal judge who criticized Justice Samuel Alito flying right-wing flags at his homes faces an ethics violation—not Alito himself. [Wall Street Journal]
• President Joe Biden, who has about a month left in office, called for a ban on members of Congress trading stocks. Where was this energy on day one? [Associated Press]
• Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has once again proposed ending state insurance coverage for abortions done due to severe fetal anomalies, including a fetus not developing a skull. [Virginia Mercury]
• Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) filed a defamation lawsuit against one of the many women who accused him of sexual harassment. [City & State NY]
• North Carolina Lt. Gov. and failed gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson (R) logged into a virtual state meeting with the username "minisoldr," the same handle that posted racist remarks on porn site Nude Africa. [WRAL]
• Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R), who had a net worth of $189 million in 2018, gave $20,000 of his salary to an anti-abortion crisis pregnancy center *hissing sounds* in a contrived act of charity. [KFYR]

This has been your weekly Barf Bag, thanks for reading!