Musk under fire

Democrats believe attacking the world’s richest man as an unelected billionaire bent on a slash-and-burn crusade targeting social security and healthcare will revive their prospects as the Tesla CEO’s popularity sinks

Lauren Gambino

FOR MOST OF THE 17-minute interview, Elon Musk stuck to a script. He was just a tech guy on a mission to “eliminate waste and fraud” from the US government. His slash-and-burn cost-cutting crusade was making “good progress actually”, he told the Fox Business commentator Larry Kudlow last Monday, despite sparking a backlash that has reverberated far beyond Washington. “Really, I just don’t want America to go bankrupt,” he added. But then Kudlow asked Musk to look forward. Would the so called “ department of government efficiency” (Doge) still be in place in a year? He thought so – his assignment wasn’t quite complete. Musk, the world’s richest man, then pointed to social security, a widely popular federal programme that provides monthly benefits to retirees and people with disabilities, and…

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Guardian Weekly (Digital) - 1 Issue, 21 March 2025

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