The Trump-Musk pairing has been making the rounds of late. Last week, the two sat down for a conversation on X in which the Republican candidate shared his views on inflation, climate change and how "illegal immigration saved his life," a reference to how he turned his head to look at a related chart just before his attempted assassination.
But the alliance kicked up another gear on Monday when Trump suggested to Reuters that he would consider Musk for a cabinet position if he were to win the upcoming elections:
"He's a very smart guy. I certainly would, if he would do it, I certainly would. He's a brilliant guy."
In the same interview, Trump signaled he was open to reversing a $7,500 tax credit for Americans who purchase an electric vehicle, a clear nod to Musk, who owns EV maker Tesla.
Musk wasted little time to respond to Trump's claims. In a publication on X, which he also owns, Musk posted a picture of himself behind a podium which reads ""Department of Government Efficiency", along with the caption "I am willing to serve."
I am willing to serve pic.twitter.com/BJhGbcA2e0
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 20, 2024
X users were quick to point out two things. The first one is that the acronym for the "cabinet role" Musk envisions spell out DOGE, a clear nod to Dogecoin, the popular cryptocurrency that originated as a meme which Musk supports.
The other observation had to to with the aforementioned interview between the two, which somewhat foreshadowed Trump's "cabinet role" comment. "I think it would be great to just have a government efficiency commission that looks at these things to make sure taxpayer money is spent in a good way," Musk told Trump in one passage. "I'd be happy to help out on such a commission."
Musk officially endorsed Trump after the former president was injured in an assassination attempt last month. A recent piece by The Hill also pointed out that his ownership of X has worried some Democrats, as several pro-Harris accounts on the platform have been suspended or labeled as spam in recent weeks.
Musk's "literal control" over X, including its algorithm, is "potentially troubling" in the context of the election, said Jonathan Nagler, co-director of New York University's Center for Social Media and Politics. "He can change the algorithm on a whim, and he is completely free to tweak the algorithm so it up weights or suppresses any content that he changes."
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