Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers weighed in on the conflict between Trump and Musk today as the pair continued to pour fuel on a fire that risks destroying a once tight-knit relationship between the two leaders for good.
Musk escalated the war of words throughout the day with online posts that ranged from intense criticism of a Republican funding bill that the Congressional Budget Office estimates would add trillions to the national deficit to a conspiracy-boosting claim that Trump is “in the Epstein Files” and a suggestion that Trump should be impeached and replaced by Vice President JD Vance.
For some Republicans, Musk today took things too far.
“You’ve lost your damn mind” was the message Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, had tonight for Musk, whom he has long praised.
“I’ve had a lot of love and respect for you for what you’ve done for this country over the last several months, but you’ve lost your damn mind,” Nehls said. “Enough is enough.”
Rep. Tom Massie, R-Ky., who has also clashed with Trump over his criticism of the funding bill, offered a subtle defense of Musk, who he said has “math” on his side.
“I choose math,” Massie said. “The math always wins over the words. I trust the math from the guy that lands rockets backwards over the politicians.”
But most Republican lawmakers today have taken the path of Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., opting against criticizing Trump or Musk amid the brewing rivalry.
“I don’t care how much fighting they do. I admire both of them,” Norman said.
Democrats, meanwhile, have delighted in the “bad blood” between the polarizing leaders, some likening the drama to an episode of “Real Housewives” or a WWE match and others suggesting the breakdown was inevitable.
“You’ve got two gentlemen with gargantuan egos and both appearing to suffer from narcissistic personality disorder, and they basically converged around a common platform of plunder and pillage of the American people, and now both of them are telling the truth about the other,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md.
