Elon Musk’s sobering reaction to remarks podcaster Joe Rogan made about egregious government misuse of tax dollars went viral after the world’s richest man suggested the systemic waste and fraud is even more widespread than Americans realize.
Musk was reacting to a clip from Wednesday’s episode of the “Joe Rogan Experience,” during which Rogan discussed the concept of “taxing the rich” with comedian Ron White.
The host of the world’s most popular podcast said he has no issue with taxing the rich, but he’s disgusted by the government’s gross mismanagement of the trillions of tax dollars it collects every year.
For reference, the U.S. government collected $5.1 trillion in taxes in fiscal year 2024, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
“What’s really crazy to me is when people say the rich should pay more taxes. OK, fine,” Rogan said. “But where do you think that’s going? Where’s that going? Where is the money going?”
“Is the money going to the federal government? Do you think they’re good at it? Do you think they’re good at managing your money? Have you paid attention to all the s*** Elon’s f***ing uncovered?” Rogan asked.
WARNING: The following video contains vulgar language that may offend some readers.
Just the tip of the iceberg so far
pic.twitter.com/BNYCbXk6sT— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 10, 2025
Would you feel more comfortable paying taxes if you could designate what the money does and doesn’t go to?
Musk reacted by saying the horrific waste and fraud he has uncovered as head of the Department of Government Efficiency is “just the tip of the iceberg so far.”
In other words, there’s more pervasive financial mismanagement than the public has been informed of, according to Musk.
Rogan said he’d be glad to pay taxes if the government actually did a good job managing the money.
Instead, he said, tax dollars are wasted on overthrowing foreign governments and continuously bombing the Mideast — without taxpayers’ knowledge or approval.
“I’m happy to pay tax if I thought they were doing a great job, but you are being strong-armed into giving money to people that do a really s***ty job of protecting your money and investing it in the country,” he said.
“A lot of it is going to bureaucracy and bulls*** and a bunch of things that you don’t have any say in,” Rogan noted.
The podcaster suggested that a better system would be for taxpayers to be given a sheet where they could select where their tax money was going, instead of being forced to rely blindly on unverified government assurances that it’s using the money to better the nation.
“What if the federal government’s budget was entirely based on the will of the people?” Rogan asked.
“Like, you get to choose how much of your money you want to put into drone strikes in Yemen. I’d say, ‘I want zero money going to that,’” he underscored.
During his brief tenure as head of DOGE, Musk has uncovered a nauseating amount of government waste, fraud, and abuse.
An initial survey of Unemployment Insurance claims since 2020 revealed the following:
– 24.5k people over 115 years old claimed $59M in benefits
– 28k people between 1 and 5 years old claimed $254M in benefits
– 9.7k people with birth dates over 15 years in the future claimed…— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) April 10, 2025
Taxes are a necessary evil, but Rogan is right: Americans would feel better about being forced to give away big chunks of their hard-earned money if the government did a better job at managing the money and was accountable for how it was spent.
For example, Christians are justifiably angry that their tax dollars are being used to fund abortion services.
Many Americans are also furious that their money has been wasted on financing racist DEI propaganda in public schools, private universities, and many workplaces.
1. The scale of government waste is worse than anyone imagined.
$1.9 billion was sent to an NGO formed just a year ago with almost no prior activity.
The US government is losing $2 trillion per year, failing its own audits.
And it gets even worse: pic.twitter.com/gjlVKnHGbK
— Fernando Cao (@thefernandocz) March 2, 2025
Similarly, countless people are appalled at the trillions of dollars wasted on foreign aid as Americans struggle with crushing inflation, rampant crime, soaring homelessness, and filthy, dilapidated subways, airports, and potholed-riddled streets.
President Donald Trump was elected with a mandate to eradicate the financially draining illegal immigration crisis and to restore the economy, so that America might be great again. Let us hope he remembers why voters put him back into office.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
