Democrats, Media Have New Strategy To Break Up Trump-Musk Honeymoon

The left-wing media and their political allies have developed a new strategy in their eternal quest to oppose Donald Trump, this time seeking to drive a wedge between him and Elon Musk.

Musk’s instrumental efforts in getting Trump elected have both endeared him to the right and put a target on his back from the left. Most recently, leftist luminaries like MSNBC’s Joy Reid have taken to mockingly referring to the Space X founder as “President Musk” in an attempt to get under Trump’s skin.

Reid’s lead prompted a number of Democratic lawmakers to steal the line. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin and Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro are all amongst a group of politicians who parroted Reid.

The accusations stemmed from Musk’s vocal opposition to an early version of the House’s continuing resolution to fund the government. The version Musk initially opposed was over 1,500 pages long and included what many GOP politicians referred to as “pork barrel” spending inclusions such as a “Feral Swine Eradication” program and an earmarked fund to provide juvenile delinquents with driver’s licenses.

Musk was hardly the only person to speak out against the bill. Scores of Republican lawmakers voiced their opposition, ultimately leading to the quadruple-digit page bill being scrapped in favor of a much shorter resolution.

DeLauro, and others, however, credited Musk with influencing the GOPers who did not want a 1,500 page bill to pass before anyone could read it.

“They got scared because President Musk told them, President Musk said ‘don’t do it! shut the government down!’” DeLauro told House members while the body debated the bill Dec. 19.

JUST IN: 🇺🇸 Elon Musk slams Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro.

“The crazy lady with the purple hair is the top House Dem in charge of spending taxpayer money” pic.twitter.com/sPtg9tw1yU

— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) December 20, 2024

The narrative seeped into each and every far reach of the leftwing echo chamber. MSNBC’s Chris Hayes described Trump and Musk as engaged in a “co-presidency,” a term New York Rep. Dan Goldman took issue with, claiming Musk is the sole President.

“Elon Musk has Donald Trump in a vise.” Rep. Dan Goldman says “we need to face the reality: right now we have President Elon Musk”. (Video: MSNBC) pic.twitter.com/32b1is1A0n

— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) December 20, 2024

The efforts to thrust Musk into a leading role and divide him from Trump, while perhaps not entirely successful as of yet, did manage to catch Trump’s eye. He addressed them in a Sunday speech at Turning Point USA’s AmFest in Phoenix, Arizona. (RELATED: Media’s Elon Musk Propaganda Hides The Real Truth Behind His Sacrifice)

“He’s not gonna be President, that I can tell you,” Trump told the crowd after complimenting Musk’s Starlink satellites. “I’m safe, you know why? He can’t be, he wasn’t born in this country,” Trump said, laughing.

Trump: [Elon Musk] is not going to be president. That I can tell you. I’m safe. You know why? He can’t be. He wasn’t born in this country pic.twitter.com/YpgcGZ0jF4

— Acyn (@Acyn) December 22, 2024

While Trump appeared to maintain a jovial attitude in the face of the divide and conquer strategy, there are signs of cracks appearing between his MAGA base and the Musk-friendly Silicon Valley newcomers to the Trump Train.

Chief among the concerns splitting the two sides is a raging online debate about H1B visas.

The H1B visa, the largest visa category in the U.S., allows employers to hire skilled foreign workers and “authorizes the temporary employment of qualified individuals who are not otherwise authorized to work in the U.S.,” according to the Department of Labor.

Musk appeared to take the pro-H1B side, replying “correct” to a user’s assessment that a slowdown in skilled immigration could lead to a decrease in American innovation.

Correct

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 26, 2024

Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) co-head Vivek Ramaswamy co-signed the viewpoint Thursday, defending the implementation of H1B’s and claiming they’re necessary because native-born Americans participate in a culture of mediocrity.

“Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer). That doesn’t start in college, it starts YOUNG. A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math Olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers,” Ramaswamy tweeted.

The reason top tech companies often hire foreign-born & first-generation engineers over “native” Americans isn’t because of an innate American IQ deficit (a lazy & wrong explanation). A key part of it comes down to the c-word: culture. Tough questions demand tough answers & if…

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 26, 2024

The tweet echoed sentiments Musk eloquated on Christmas day, when he wrote “The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low.” Musk appeared to call for “double” the number of foreign-born engineers.

MAGA loyalists like radio host Jesse Kelly pushed back. (RELATED: Democrats’ New Attack On Trump And Musk All But Doomed To Backfire)

“White kids with great college degrees cannot find jobs and most cannot even get a return phone call. That is happening. It’s all around me. And when that’s happening, you’re never gonna sell legal immigration to people. Ever. Period,” he wrote Thursday.

White kids with great college degrees cannot find jobs and most cannot even get a return phone call. That is happening. It’s all around me.

And when that’s happening, you’re never gonna sell legal immigration to people. Ever. Period.

— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) December 26, 2024

With 337 H1B petition approvals for the fiscal year 2022, Musk’s Tesla ranked 27th in U.S. companies for H1B visa sponsorships.

Despite his role in the ongoing back-and-forth, Musk and Trump still appear to enjoy a good relationship for the time being.

Trump reposted a tweet from Musk on his Truth Social platform, co-signing Musk’s statement about the legacy media’s impending downfall on Christmas Day.