Elon Musk may be a genius, but a mad one, even teetering on villainous.
In fact, President Trump just posted on Truth Social that he has gone “completely off the rails.” That’s because he’s launching a new U.S. political party with the not-so-clever name of “America Party.” Musk claims it will give Americans “back your freedom.” Perhaps he hasn’t been paying attention, but that’s what Trump, and his mighty MAGA army, are already doing.
Musk just can’t move on from the passage of the OBBB, saying “When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy.” His refusal to exit the political ring is madness, and maddening for shareholders of Tesla stock, which is plummeting today; moreover, after bouncing around, as stocks tend to do, it is lagging the market this year. He needs to refocus.
No doubt Musk is concerned about government waste, but there’s plenty of evidence that he is distraught by the OBBB’s repeal of E.V. tax credits. Though he may try to downplay that, it will clearly impact Tesla sales. Ostensibly, his beef is with the extravagant spending and raising of the debt ceiling. The plutocrat from South Africa is so overwrought that he insists we live in a one-party country that he calls the “Porky Pig Party.”
He needs to look in the mirror, because few, if any, corporate CEOs have received more government subsidies than Musk. He has been sloshing and slurping at the government trough gluttonously. Besides, it’s not as if Trump didn’t telegraph his intentions to curb E.V. tax credits, scrap zero emission credits, and impose tariffs on imported Chinese batteries for Tesla energy. Narcissistic Musk, bathing in Trump’s luminiferous limelight, joyously joined him on stage for many of those campaign rallies. Promises made, promises kept!
In addition to his hypocrisy, I question Musk’s label for our supposed one-party country. Did he even see the OBBB vote tally? Our politics may be polarized, but not unipolar. What’s more, if his dubbing of the Porky Pig Party is supposed to be derogatory, it may fall on deaf pigs’ ears — porky pigs are not always a bad thing. Do pigs represent savings or profligate spending? Piggy banks may symbolize the former, whereas Musk’s pecuniary habits the latter.
Piggy banks, in various forms, have been around for centuries. They are supposed to represent thrift while teaching financial responsibility. Pigs themselves have been around much longer, and have a contrasting reputation for being sloppy and voracious in some cultures, but who symbolize good fortune and abundance in others.
In our society pigs are often associated with pork-barrel spending and government waste. Indeed, the ever-quotable Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) expressed a catchy one: “When you trim fat, pigs squeal.” Nevertheless, we generally want piggy banks to get fat, including with all those magnificent proceeds from tariffs. As President Trump said, “We’re going to become so rich, you’re not going to know where to spend all that money.” That’s a good porky pig.
Pigs squeal for many other reasons, too, yet no one is squealing louder than Elon Musk. His incessant oinking about the OBBB reflects injudicious and wanton ignorance of the current political possibilities. President Trump and his impressive array of allies are living in the real world, but Musk’s head is in the clouds. Or maybe on Mars already. Consider one ramification if the narrowly-passed OBBB had failed: Republicans would have to compromise with Hakeem Jeffries and Schumer, perish the thought. Now that would resemble a true “one-party” country run by squealing porky piglets.
As his brain gets smart does his head get dumb? Or just villainous?
Image from Grok.