MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell suggested on Tuesday that Elon Musk had suffered “a humiliating demotion” at the hands of Donald Trump, after the president-elect gave the billionaire an unofficial government role.
But “the theory that Elon Musk could in fact become a co-president or the real president, while Donald Trump is actually retreating to a life of golf, suffered a significant setback tonight when Donald Trump announced he would give Elon Musk a chance . job that doesn’t exist and will last 18 months at most,” O’Donnell said.
Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy have been announced by Trump as the new heads of a Department of Government Efficiency charged with routing government spending and red tape. Trump has given them until July 2026 to complete their mission.
Trump giving Musk a work partner is the “worst thing of all,” O’Donnell said, noting that Musk also had to share the press statement.
The “funniest part of Trump’s press release announcing the appointment of Elon Musk to a position that does not exist, in which he is forced by Donald Trump to work with someone else who knows nothing about the subject he has been assigned […] is that they will both be the first people removed from the Trump administration,” as it states that their work “will be completed no later than July 4, 2026,” O’Donnell said.
Trump “may now know enough about government to know how humiliating this will be for Elon Musk,” he added.