MUCH OF THE right-wing media ecosystem appeared unsure how to react to the seeming public implosion of the relationship between President Donald Trump and Elon Musk on Thursday and into Friday morning. Outlets and influencers that typically react savagely to criticism of Trump played the spat more or less down the middle. Even much of the criticism of Musk was relatively genteel.
“He's gotta let Trump be Trump,” former Fox News host Eric Bolling said on Steve Bannon’s broadcast network, Real America’s Voice. “You can be First Bro,” he said of Musk, “but you can't be de facto president."
Behind the scenes, they tell WIRED, Republican operatives could not help but be entertained at the torrent of messages flooding their group chats. They tended to take Trump’s side.
One Trumpworld consultant tells WIRED that the entire episode reminded them of a line in a recent Wall Street Journal report, about how Trump had privately described Musk as “50% genius, 50% boy.”
“After today,” the consultant says, “I think he’s just 100% stupid.” (Musk did not immediately reply to a request for comment.)
