Elon Musk admitted Monday night that one of his most infamous stunts while he worked on the DOGE project was a big mistake.
The manchild mogul has been in a social media war with Donald Trump over the president’s signature tax-and-spending bill, which Musk called the “biggest debt increase in history.”
On Monday evening, Musk suggested on his X platform, formerly Twitter, that Trump’s desire to eliminate the debt ceiling would get rid of “the only thing that will actually force the government to cut waste and fraud.”
But Musk’s musing about federal spending was interrupted by @JimSpradlin7, a follower who suggested that the billionaire’s failed efforts at reducing government spending and waste through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency may be due to (checks notes) a chainsaw.
Spradlin’s critique was a reference to Musk’s February appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where Musk brandished what he called a “chainsaw for bureaucracy” that Argentine President Javier Milei gave him before going on stage.
Musk was brutally mocked for the chainsaw bit, which some people called “cringe AF.”
On Tuesday morning, Musk admitted that Spradlin may be on to something.
People had varying reactions to Musk’s admission of a mistake, with some appreciating the admission and others claiming he had nothing to apologize for.
Musk attempted to keep the self-reflection going a little while longer, though he admitted being tempted to go scorched Earth on Trump after the president suggested he’d “take a look” at deporting the Tesla titan.
Musk posted that he was tempted “to escalate this” but “will refrain for now.”
