Watching oligarch Elon Musk and President Donald Trump break up in real time on Thursday afternoon, with both men using their preferred mediums ― Musk on the social media site he owns, Trump while talking to television cameras ― was deeply satisfying for Democrats who have come to loathe both men. Popcorn emojis are plentiful.
Emotional satisfaction, however, might be all Democrats get out of the divorce between Trump and his biggest financial supporter, which gets nastier by the minute. The duo’s big, not-so-beautiful breakup is unlikely to significantly harm Trump politically, or meaningfully slow down congressional Republicans’ plodding march toward passing the tax-cutting, Medicaid-slashing, deficit-exploding legislation Musk labeled an “abomination” last week.
Let’s start with a basic fact: Musk was very unpopular, and was not doing much to help Trump politically. His favorability stood at just 40%, with 54% of Americans holding an unfavorable opinion, notably worse than Trump’s 46% job approval. GOP operatives have long been skeptical the quarter-billion dollars Musk spent on the 2024 election, and which Musk claimed on Thursday were the actual reason Trump won, actually did much to help Republicans reclaim the White House. (In fact, Republicans were ready to scapegoat Musk if Trump lost.)
