Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar cautioned Democrats on Sunday not to believe Elon Musk when the tech billionaire says he is stepping away from involvement in the Trump administration.
Mr. Musk last week was given a formal send-off in the Oval Office during a press conference after his 130-day term as head of the Department of Government Efficiency had expired.
“When Elon Musk says he’s stepping back, we can’t believe him. What he wants to do is step back behind the curtain, because for the longest time, billionaires have run our government hiding behind the curtain,” Mr. Casar, Texas Democrat, said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“Elon Musk’s big innovation was that he bought the presidency and then came out in front of the curtain and bragged about running the government on social media. The American people are rightly outraged,” he said.
“So when he says he’s stepping back, I see him trying to go and hide, but he is still meeting with senators. He’s still meeting with foreign heads of state,” he added.
Mr. Casar said he believes that Mr. Musk is still influencing President Trump and that Democrats “need to continue campaigning on getting folks like Elon Musk and all billionaires out of their control of the government.”
Mr. Musk said on his final day last week that the work being done by DOGE will continue even though his time as a special government employee has come to an end.
The Tesla CEO compared DOGE’s efforts to Buddhism: “It’s like a way of life … It’s permeating throughout the government, and I’m confident that over time, we will see a trillion dollars of savings,” he said.
Mr. Trump handed Mr. Musk a giant golden key that he said he only gives to “very special people.”
Mr. Musk said he’ll continue to be a friend and adviser to Mr. Trump and looks forward to being back in the Oval Office.
The tech billionaire, who faced personal and financial backlash through his various companies after helping the administration launch DOGE, which slashed chunks of federal agencies, said he would return full-time to helm those corporations again, including SpaceX and Tesla.
During his leadership tenure at DOGE, liberal activists vandalized Tesla owners’ vehicles, torched multiple Tesla vehicles at dealerships and harassed Tesla drivers on the road.
Last March the FBI launched a task force to investigate the attacks targeting Tesla cars and dealerships, as the agency’s director called such acts “domestic terrorism.”
