r/politics • u/Quirkie The Netherlands • Mar 06 '25

Soft Paywall Elon Musk Suddenly Doesn’t Want Credit for Disastrous DOGE Cuts - Musk is warning Republicans to stop blaming DOGE for the cuts.

https://newrepublic.com/post/192415/elon-musk-warns-republicans-doge-job-cuts
59.4k Upvotes

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14.5k

u/blues111 Michigan Mar 06 '25

Nope DOGE, Trump, and Musk get full credit for all of this

Trump spoke ever so fondly of "DOGE the department headed by elon musk" just the other night at the SOTU

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u/random6x7 Mar 06 '25

To be fair, Republicans in general should get some of the credit. It'd only take a handful of them joining the Democrats to get rid of Trump (and Elon!).

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u/blues111 Michigan Mar 06 '25

Also the subservience to just let Trump and Musk do whatever the fuck they want!

Sure the whole republican party can share the credit with Trump and Musk

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u/ProfitLoud Mar 06 '25

It’s called treason. They have not upheld their oaths the country.

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u/Danni_Les Mar 06 '25

That's right - the oath is to UPHOLD the constitution, and they're too busy trying to tear it down.

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u/CarbsMe Mar 06 '25

Claude Malhuret used the phrase “piétonner la constitution” in his French speech about Trump this week. Piétonner means not just “walk on” the constitution, it is even more walking casually on a pedestrian street. His image was Trump trampling across the constitution like walking in the park.

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u/mrburger 29d ago

His image was Trump trampling across the constitution like walking in the park.

I appreciate your translation, and Malhuret's incisive image.

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u/checker280 Mar 06 '25

I never seen a president hate the US more than trump does.

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u/b0w3n New York Mar 06 '25

But think of the tens of hundreds of dollars they will each individual profit from it! Worth it to risk total economic ruin and your head on a pike, right?!

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u/Hector_P_Catt Mar 06 '25

" 'Uphold'? Shit, I said, 'Hold Up'! My bad."

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u/ZubLor Mar 06 '25

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg would like a word.

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u/ConsiderationFar3903 Mar 06 '25

Wouldn’t they though!

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u/MasterFrosting1755 Mar 06 '25

They were convicted of espionage, not treason.

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u/Sgt-Spliff- Mar 06 '25

I wonder what the penalty for treason is...

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u/[deleted] Mar 06 '25

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u/ProfitLoud Mar 06 '25

If you are making decisions that favor Russia over our own citizens, you are aiding our enemy. Traitors, the lot of them.

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u/ewokninja123 Mar 06 '25

Treason is very narrowly defined in the constitution, but not sedition

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u/PinkyAnd Mar 06 '25

You know, maybe their primal self preservation instinct will ultimately save us all. If public opinion turns against Musk, Trump, and the other clowns overseeing the wholesale crumbling of the economy, there’s the possibility that the GOP will try to throw Trump/Musk, et al under the bus.

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u/[deleted] Mar 06 '25 edited Mar 06 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Deathspiral222 Mar 06 '25

Fuck them. They need to be primaried out as soon as possible.

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u/Repose123 Mar 06 '25

There has to be recall petitions started NOW. Check with state statutes for proper format. Recalls WORK!

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u/bjaydubya Mar 06 '25

10 spineless politicians...I'd have to expect that if gets bad enough that republicans start going after Trump/Musk, then those spineless minions will simply follow the herd.

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u/Infamous_Boat_6469 Mar 06 '25

The 10 Democrats who voted with Republicans to censure Green were: Ami Bera of California, Ed Case of Hawaii, Jim Costa of California, Laura Gillen of New York, Jim Himes of Connecticut, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, Jared Moskowitz of Florida, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Tom Suozzi of New York

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u/isokaywiththat Mar 06 '25

I was curious about Laura Gillen. She's new as of 2025 and she represents NY's 4th congressional district... which is apparently the 2nd richest district in New York and ranks among the richest nationally... so we can't trust her to not act like a Republican.

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u/cosmicsans Mar 06 '25

Say their names.

Reps. Ami Bera and Jim Costa, both of California; Ed Case of Hawaii; Laura Gillen and Tom Suozzi, both of New York; Jim Himes of Connecticut; Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania; Marcy Kaptur of Ohio; Jared Moskowitz of Florida; and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington state.

Fuck every single one of them. Where were the votes to censure Nazi barbie and Nazi howler monkey?

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u/[deleted] Mar 06 '25

[deleted]

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u/F54280 Mar 06 '25

Sorry, am french, don't know the difference.

Google translate:

to censure => censurer

to censor => censurer

Happy to learn the difference.

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u/jazzhandler Colorado Mar 06 '25

You’re right of course, but it also works as wordplay.

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u/SJWTumblrinaMonster Mar 06 '25

You can't expect them to wear pink ties, hold up ping pong paddles with pithy statements on them, AND support a fellow Democrat's resistance to the rise of fascism!

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u/ThrowAwayGarbage82 North Carolina Mar 06 '25

I got accused of being maga for pointing this out. Whole lot of self destructive democrats with blinders on who think their elected reps will ride in like knights in shining armor to save them.

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u/BadArtijoke Mar 06 '25

No, it won’t. Don’t give people another reason to keep sitting on the couch

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u/macromind Mar 06 '25

He is scared of the veterans it seems! He will need much more that some close security if the veterans start going after him!

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u/psychorobotics Mar 06 '25

He asked them to send five bullets didn't he?

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u/wnt2knoY Mar 06 '25

Perhaps with his role, he can personally be sued if it's to be illegal.

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u/psalm6969 Mar 06 '25

Hey! Upset veterans: https://mastodon.social/@elonjet ( disclaimer: only posted for entertainment purposes )

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u/PinkyAnd Mar 06 '25

I’m not saying that at all. The public pressure is exactly the mechanism that would create the feeling that they need to throw Trump/Musk under the bus. That’s why they’re cancelling town halls.

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u/calmdownmyguy Colorado Mar 06 '25

Trump is the republican party. It's been ten years. When will people understand this? There are no republican voters, just trump voters. They'll fill out the ballot for republicans to help trump but their loyalty is to the Manhattan trust fund billionaire, not the party.

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u/[deleted] Mar 06 '25

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u/yikes_mylife Mar 06 '25

Yeah, given that trump literally had no plan this time around, they couldn’t pretend that they had other reasons other than being ignorant xenophobic racists. There was no tax plan for them to pretend was their priority.

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u/lefthandb1ack Mar 06 '25

Did you mean “34x felon, rapist, and 6x bankrupt Manhattan trust fund billionaire”?

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u/what3v3ruwantit2b Mar 07 '25

I've been saying this as well. I had a conversation with someone about a family member and the dumb maga things they said. The person I was talking to said, "oh I didn't know they were maga. I thought they were just a Republican who listens to fox." It blew my mind for a minute to be honest. If you say you are Republican at this point you are maga. They aren't separate.

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u/your_moms_a_clone 29d ago

And Trump is old. He will eventually die. He may not even make it through four years. Most sitting Republicans will probably outlive him. If they have even half a brain, they are also thinking about what will happen after he's gone.

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u/Snoutysensations Mar 06 '25

They'll frame the public pressure as coming from Leftist radicals and immigrants, not real Americans. They won't do anything until the MAGA base turns against Trump, which is unlikely to happen. Even if half of MAGA is unemployed, hungry, and sick with measles they'll just blame Biden and Hilary and Ukraine and Mexico for their suffering.

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u/hyperhurricanrana Mar 06 '25

That’s what they’re already saying about the town halls, every single person there not happy is a paid lying antifa.

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u/ThrowAwayGarbage82 North Carolina Mar 06 '25

Yah totally and that's why they're hiding from their own voters.

Lol

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u/xxxxNateDaGreat Mar 06 '25

Bingo. Germans didn't overthrow Hitler, the Allies did and it will probably take some new allies this time around. Yippee.

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u/Just-Emu-friend Mar 06 '25

who is sitting on the couch most of us are trying to survive

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u/eljefino Mar 06 '25

Vance, for starters

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u/BeenCaughtSneezing Mar 06 '25

"Keep your fucking mouth away from my couch!" JD Vance

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u/JackalKing Mar 06 '25

This is a trend I've noticed in the left side of American politics over the years. There is this tendency to mythologize ways in which things will just turn out okay eventually. Maybe the Republicans will turn on Trump. Maybe he will just die one day and the whole MAGA thing will go away over night. Maybe the establishment Democrats will wake up one day and realize they have a spine. Maybe if I just hope hard enough things will magically be fixed and I won't have to do anything to make it happen.

The American left LOVES to believe in the myth of progress. That all things will eventually just turn out like they are supposed to, and when that doesn't happen they fantasize about ways it could happen. Its the libertarian ideal of the free market applied to government ethics, and when that fails they resort to the magical thinking of the religious right.

Historically speaking, once fascists taste a little bit of power the only way it ends is with a whole lot of bloodshed, and the fascists in America have the full backing of the richest people on the planet. Things are more likely to get WORSE rather than better. Fantasizing about the Republicans one day turning on Trump is just coping.

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u/A-Handsome-Stranger- Mar 06 '25

I wish, the Democrats repeatedly take the bait of framing Trump/Musk/MAGA as "not real Republicans"

Tie them together. They're the same. There are no fake/real Republicans. There is only Trump.

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u/MajorNoodles Pennsylvania Mar 06 '25

Trump has been running for President as a Republican for the last decade. Seems to me that the "not real" Republicans are the ones who don't support him.

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u/PinkyAnd Mar 06 '25

I’ve never seen any Dem saying that Trump/Musk aren’t real republicans. In fact, I’ve only seen the opposite.

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u/ShamelessLeft Mar 06 '25

I wish we could stop calling them 'Republicans' and go back to calling them the Confederates they've always been.

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u/bravetailor Mar 06 '25

It's more likely for Trump to fire his entire administration before that happens.

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u/Sirlothar Michigan Mar 06 '25

This would be unlikely. Their plan is just to remove any accountability to their constituents and just keep pushing their agenda unchecked.

What is actually likely is Trump will invoke the Insurrection Act, declare martial law, and just cancel/delay elections indefinitely. That would be easier and more effective then trying to convince voters to give them another shot in 2026.

Trump gave DoD and Homeland 90 days to submit a joint report on whether to invoke the Insurrection Act over our border crisis and I think we all know what the report is going to say.

We know Trump has been pointing out how Ukraine has suspended their elections and people seem to understand why because of an active invasion of their homeland. Well.... we have our own "invasion" we are dealing with right now. It's not real but when has that ever mattered?

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u/FriskyDingos Mar 06 '25

Political gravity is still a reality. Even when it feels like the GOP and Trump and Musk are immune to it. All it will take is for some red-state Trump voters to find their social security check didn’t come through or their medicare was cut-off and they will turn like dogs on their masters. I also anticipate in the next couple of months we’ll also see a big erosion of support amongst Trump voters who are also ex-military/veterans. There’s no way the slashing of the jobs at the VA doesn’t start having very real every-day-life impacting changes for them. I don’t think the impacts of this are even close to being realized yet. We are barely over 6 weeks into this SNAFU and it takes a little time for these effects to be realized and ripple through the electorate.

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u/mrbigglessworth Mar 06 '25

LOL no, that requires critical thinking and introspection. Something I guarantee that Trump has never done either of. They will continue to develop shit polices and blame everyone like Biden or the democrats. Blame will NEVER been accepted or consequences enforced. We wont have mid terms so we cant vote these fuckers out. Its only going to get worse before any of it gets better.

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u/Turbulent_Pool_5378 Mar 06 '25

Yep we all saw all of them standing, clapping and cheering his lies the other night.

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u/broniesnstuff Mar 06 '25

the subservience to just let Trump and Musk do whatever the fuck they want!

Republicucks

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u/DrDaniels America Mar 06 '25

The executive branch doesn't even have the authority to impound congressionally appropriated funds but congressional Republicans are allowing Trump to get away with it.

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u/IndependenceIcy2251 Mar 06 '25

That's the thing. I would have been more comfortable with the idea of someone taking a look at the books, making recommendations, even saying "hey, these programs don't align with your policies" if it had been done within the lines of law and the constitution, not someone appointing themselves Lord Farquad and running all over thing. You know, being an advisor, not trying to be an oligarch. Now they are running to try and get back inbetween those lines as they realized that continuing the way they were was not going to end well or peacefuly for them.

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u/DeepProspector Mar 06 '25

It literally doesn’t matter one fuck if a current POTUS hates a Congressionally funded and signed by a former POTUS into law… anything. Program, grant, whatever. Later POTUS legally can’t do shit without another legal change in signed law.

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u/IndependenceIcy2251 Mar 06 '25

Not saying it does, but it would be reasonable for them to go through the review, then lobby Congress to change the next budget.

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u/DeepProspector Mar 06 '25

Review whatever they want as long as they bow their heads like subservient dogs to the law and execute fully the programs as funded and intended.

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u/gnrhardy Mar 06 '25

Right, I mean it's not like they don't have an imminent opportunity to request reduced spending like in a bill required to continue funding the government past next week or anything.

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u/IndependenceIcy2251 Mar 06 '25

Yes, but then the king wouldn’t get to hand out his edicts and collect the fawning praise of his loyal subjects.

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u/ev6464 Mar 06 '25

Conservatives LOVE bringing up that Bill Clinton did something similar to this.

Hey assholes, he did it over the course of his entire presidency and went through the House and the Senate to do it, while also treating people with the utmost respect and offering them lucrative buyouts. It's night and fucking day.

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u/[deleted] Mar 06 '25

That's the thing. They would get wholehearted support from everyone for actually rooting out excess spending and waste, if it was done properly. Everyone wants to cut unnecessary expenses and would applaud that accomplishment.

But they didn't do it that way. They yanked the rug out from Federal workers. They threatened and mocked Federal employees. And it didn't save a dime but instead COST us more money (not to mention loss of productivity through tanking morale).

Which makes you think - why did they do it that way?

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u/Particular-County277 Mar 06 '25

Thats what i keep thinking. Make millions of people hungry and homeless. MANY of these people have very good education, but may not have found a job before they became homeless. Now imagine all these people with so much anger and hate and so much time on their hands, organizing

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u/BetaOscarBeta Mar 07 '25

Yeah, it’s almost like the guy who says he wants to use the insurrection act is trying to engineer a smoke screen…

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u/BJYeti Mar 06 '25

Seriously, there are places that serious changes need to be made in our government, I am all for fixing those issues like the Pentagon having no idea where billions of dollars went, but you don't do that by just slashing jobs willy nilly, its identifying the issue and developing solutions.

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u/Fickle-Flower-9743 Mar 07 '25

Ah, like a real professional auditor does!

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u/rak1882 America Mar 06 '25

Presidents and Congress have done essentially that before.

Lets go thru and see where we can make it. It does turn out you can't actually make those cuts long term and ultimately stuff just got outsourced but what matters was it was done thoughtfully.

I totally believe mistakes will happen. But taking a machete to something when you don't know what you are attacking doesn't make sense. And isn't something that is practical. Not in the short- or long-term. Especially when you are doing it intentionally.

When the first couple of mistakes happen- you should go, hmmm. This isn't working. Maybe we should slow down cuz it turns out none of us actually know how any of this works.

I'm not going to say that some of these systems don't need to updated. That ideally it may make sense to integrate government systems. To give states the options of being integrated into the federal gov'ts system (or not.)

But that isn't what's happening. And that needs to be a process that involves Congress. It needs to include a lot of experts in a lot of fields. And is done methodically. That acknowledges the security of all of the data these departments contain.

But have to give Musk credit- ssa.gov has probably never had so many people under 60 sign into their accounts.

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u/Recent-Ad-5493 Mar 06 '25

1000%. There is absolutely bloat in the federal government. There is absolutely a ludicrious amount of waste. But you don't fix waste in a system like that by opening an Excel file, sorting by $, ascending, and freeze/cut the biggest numbers.

Hell, I wouldn't even have been against a "we are doing a holistic review of our loans and grants. It is just treasonous to just stop paying them immediately. Like, you don't run the federal government like a lemonade stand.

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u/watermelonspanker Mar 06 '25

In fact impoundment is expressly illegal and has been since the 1970s

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u/justaddwhiskey Mar 06 '25

Honestly, but none of them will break ranks. It’s pathetic. The loyalty to party over country will be the downfall of us all.

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u/SicilyMalta Mar 06 '25

The richest man in the world has threatened them - he can destroy them politically and personally.

If they had a spine they'd take the hit.

But this is why you tax the shit out of people once they reach a certain amount of money. No one should be so rich they control the entire US government.

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u/Neveronlyadream Mar 06 '25

I think at least half of them still think they can manipulate the situation to their advantage. They're no better than crypto bros who keep telling themselves they can get in and out of a scam before it collapses and get rich and end up losing everything.

Which is fucking alarming. It's not even reality to them, it's a game they can win and they don't even think about the consequences to anyone but themselves.

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u/[deleted] Mar 06 '25

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u/ThePhoneBook Mar 06 '25 edited Mar 06 '25

Putin is much richer than Musk, and way more liquid. Musk just has the most declarable wealth, which is a very small proportion of wealth that a person can hold, especially outside countries with strict securities laws.

I might have several orders of magnitude less wealth than Musk, but there is nowhere I have to declare how much I have, and not even all regulated financial institutions here in the UK report properly to the tax office. When I self-assess, I always end up having to declare way more savings income than their estimates alone. But that should be really easy to confirm because all financial institutions are supposed to declare each customer's interest income for each tax year.

People who have money in offshore companies, especially in tax havens, which then might re-invest onshore, or in precious metals, or who have wealth in the form of soft or hard power - i.e. the ability to get other people to do you favors - cannot be valued unless they want to be, or if a team of really good investigators uncover their own accounts, and the accounts of the companies they have interests in.

Elon's wealth also represents an investment by some really nasty people. He can't just retire with it to a private island and survive. Most wealthy people in the US could and often do choose to do that, or go into Gates style philanthropist mode. You can win capitalism in the US by merely exploiting workers and being merciless to your competitiors, and you do not need to deal with dictators and despots. You can win capitalism in the US without relying almost entirely on being funded and bailed out by your own government repeatedly thanks to the support of zealots in the civil service who weren't working out of the goodness of their heart.

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u/yangyangR Mar 06 '25

You just need to have enough money to command your army. As long as you have enough that they don't rebel you can take everything else by force or at least at a pittance because of the implications if they demand a fair price.

Putin can do that. So money just grows. He doesn't have to buy his palaces. He can just demand them under threat of a bullet.

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u/ThePhoneBook Mar 06 '25 edited Mar 06 '25

Absolutely, that's the hard power that a dictator has. We are definitely not there, but if Putin gains control of America's military - which would be expressed via Trump or one of his deputies - then the best outcome is outright refusal, the typical outcome is civil war, and the worst outcome is that the military obeys.

Orders to take action against US citizens on US soil would be the most obvious way to get the military to adhere to Constitution. I'm not quite sure how they'd react to orders to help with staffing the (non-citizen, at least initially) concentration camps that, what was it, $600 billion has just been allocated for. And while I can see them invading the north of Mexico especially if cartels are provoked into opening fire a few times, I am not convinced they'd march on Canada.

Economic pressure on Canada will hopefully result in Canada just making more and more trade alliances with every other country on Earth except for the US, Russia, Belarus, Iran, DPRK and temporarily (since Netanyahu is so far up Trump's ass, but he's not going to last as long as the dictatorships in the rest of this list) Israel. While China should not be the first country that anyone makes a trade alliance with, if all countries threatened by the USA form strong trade alliances with China, the balance of power is permanently shifted. China is internally brutal, but extremely uninterested in fucking about militarily with countries that are oceans away, while that has been America's thing since WW2 - its soft power involves selling cheap stuff and investing in foreign infrastructure.

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u/teenyweenysuperguy Mar 06 '25

That's the thing- he can only destroy them if they let themselves be beholden to him. Elon Musk's "wealth" is basically theoretical, and tied to the economies of the countries he does business. If they wanted to, the American government could make a bunch of Elon's wealth evaporate overnight. Unfortunately, the American government is more greedy and short-sighted than it is concerned with low-class illusions like "integrity" or "self respect"

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u/parrro2 Mar 06 '25

The ‘ “richest man in the world” may be able to destroy them politically but so can the American voter. We the voter are just as powerful as the richest man in the world when comes to the ballot box.

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u/SicilyMalta Mar 07 '25

Except they are now controlling the information.

Look how surprised many LAMF MAGA were when Trump behaved as we always warned they would - because they only watch Fox News, NewsMax, etc.

Many still believe that Trump won the 2020 election. Are still unaware the Jan 6 revolt wasn't just a picnic that got a little out of hand.

Even mainstream news capitulated and sane washed a thin skinned stupid but feral grifter.

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u/CristyCanDo 29d ago

Assuming that free and fair elections will be held in the future.

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u/mcrib Mar 06 '25

It's not even party. It's just one man. Their king.

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u/whynot4444444 Mar 06 '25

Two men. Trump and Musk.

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u/Sufficient-Eye-8883 Mar 06 '25

Putin has joined the chat.

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u/alumadaun California Mar 06 '25

Two and a half men. Trump, Musk, and Vance.

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u/Viceroy1994 29d ago

Leave them alone, they're just following orders!

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u/MyrrhSlayter Florida Mar 06 '25

True. The thing is, when they all start going down they're gonna break their arms trying to throw each other under the bus and distance themselves from Drumpf.

The problem with surrounding yourself with greedy people who are only out for themselves is that they are greedy and only out for themselves. When you start to burn, they all step back and start helping throw logs on the fire.

I can't wait until we get to that timeline.

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u/kmonsen Mar 06 '25

I mean I would like that timeline, but it has been 8 years now and it is not really closer to coming around. I think we have to figure out how to get to a good future that does not depend on republicans breaking with Trump sadly.

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u/Aloecats Mar 06 '25

I think it’s a bit closer since the shitty EOs are starting to affect people. Once their full effect is felt we will be really close to the shit hitting the fan.

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u/haightwrightmore Mar 06 '25

It's coming sooner than you think

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u/horror- Mar 06 '25

There's only one rule that even Trump and Musk must absolutely follow. Don't fuck with the money.

Seen the stock market lately?

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u/FlyingRock I voted Mar 06 '25

Or even just get rid of or completely overhaul DOGE.

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u/RttnAttorney Mar 06 '25

That’s what they already did. They’re just ignoring a whole bunch of laws to do what they want. So anyway, about that overhaul or getting rid of it, that would take congress asserting its authority that the republicans have abandoned. They’re not even trying to uphold their oaths to the constitution because they have fealty to a fake king. Traitors committing treasonous acts.

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u/AsbestosIsBest Mar 06 '25

DOGE is everything it claims to be against. On paper, two leaders, muskrat and Ramsey. In theory, looks for inefficiency like the GAO, duplicating effort. It actuality, it's just a tool of chaos.

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u/trampolinebears Mar 06 '25

Remember back when Vivek Ramaswamy was the other Doge? That was only six weeks ago.

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u/-wnr- Mar 06 '25

overhaul DOGE

NO. There's already an agency in place that audits for government waste. It's the GAO. DOGE has no reason to exist at all.

The only thing DOGE brings to the table is giving that power to a ketamine addled billionaire neo-nazi.

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u/Killerrrrrabbit Mar 06 '25

Republicans are complicit. They have the power to stop this madness but they choose not to do it and are in fact cheering for this.

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u/BigBoyYuyuh Mar 06 '25

Trump, Elon, Republicans in Congress, and Republican voters are 150% at fault.

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u/ErickAllTE1 Mar 06 '25

Republicans in general should get some of the credit.

All. Congress is supposed to oversee the executive. They have the power to remove him.

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u/OzLord79 Mar 06 '25

I am being pedantic but it is a little more than a handful. 2/3rds of the Senate would be needed to remove which is 66 senators if my civics recollection is correct. I think it rounds down not up if my memory serves. That means like 20 Republican senators would have to vote and that the speakers of each chamber would actually bring it to a vote. Sorry for being a stickler.

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u/JohnMayerismydad Indiana Mar 06 '25

Yeah no need to only blame one, I blame them all. Republicans could easily end DOGE and impeach Trump today if they wanted.

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u/DrHugh Minnesota Mar 06 '25

Republican policies and Republican politicians enable Trump and Musk. They all get the blame.

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u/dustinhut13 Mar 06 '25

Don't forget their voters. They deserve to be reminded of their fuck up for at least the next fifty years. Give them hell every chance you get

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u/valraven38 Mar 06 '25

Yes absolutely do not let Republicans scapegoat Musk and co purely for the cuts. If they wanted to stop this it is wholly within their power, they don't though.

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u/rckid13 Mar 06 '25

Congress probably likes that they have a few fall guys to take the blame for them supporting this. Congress can block anything Trump is doing, and if he doesn't comply they can remove him. But Congress won't do either of those things. It's their fault more than Trump's.

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u/pres465 Mar 06 '25

This is WHY. They've been playing a shell game with courts and denying that Musk is in charge of DOGE. He is about to get subpoenaed and hit with FOIA requests and basically might even get civil lawsuits if they can prove he alone was responsible for illegal firing and for those traumatizing emails.

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u/bambu36 Mar 06 '25

I believe there's like a 50/50 chance that they will. I'm 100% certain that if trumps favoribility drops below like 15-20% the republican party would turn on him like a pack of hyenas. There's plenty of them who hate having to kiss his ass and be under his thumb at all times. Very few true believers outside of brainwashed voters

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u/Medlarmarmaduke Mar 06 '25 edited Mar 06 '25

Some people can be so defeatist about boycotting and the possibility of economic blowback- but they shouldn’t be

I’ve said this all over Reddit- the inherent weakness of Oligarchs in a consumer driven society and economy is that they need consumers to consume!

Purchasing power can be weaponized into political power if you organize it

Speaking of which- there is no time like the present to cancel your Washington Post subscription and Prime membership

There is a week long boycott of Amazon starting tommorow

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u/YouthObjective3077 Mar 06 '25

AND...never, ever buy a Tesla, sell all your Tesla stock if you have any, never used Airbnb because their CEO jumped onboard to work for DOGE a few weeks ago, and don't use Team Mobile- they use Starlink.

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u/Medlarmarmaduke Mar 06 '25

Stop using Accuweather- stick to weather channel

The Accuweather CEO is a huge Trumper who is going to be the one favored by Trump when Trump privatizes every federal weather related agency and department that relies on meteorological science

Farmers, among others, are going to have to pay for this

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u/Fatdap Washington Mar 06 '25

Stop using Accuweather- stick to weather channel

Why the fuck are any Americans using ANYTHING but NOAA?

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u/ewokninja123 Mar 06 '25

Sell Tesla?

Puts on tesla

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u/reds91185 Mar 06 '25

Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs...

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u/haightwrightmore Mar 06 '25

I have been preaching this same exact theory for 10 years. Everyone's comment is that their little consumption won't amount to anything. This makes me furious as a union member(retired), knowing that if WEas a group collectively, stop buying,it WILL do massive amounts of damage to their cause. Pull the money out, and they will implode.

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u/Medlarmarmaduke Mar 06 '25

Already Tesla’s stock has been dropping and orders are dropping precipitously in Europe. Today Elon told Republican to not say that DOGE is firing fed workers - it might be a case of the dog that caught the car for him soon.

Boycotts are the easiest, most discreet way someone can protest effectively.

You don’t have to risk being arrested at a protest or feeling threatened by your community if you live in a deep red area and put out signs- no one can tell that you stopped buying from Amazon and now do Costco or now look at the Weather Channel exclusively rather than Accuweather or why you uses Vrbo instead of Airbnb

Plus stopping buying from corporations and funneling your money into your local community will help that community withstand an economic downturn

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u/offroadadv Mar 06 '25

I couldn't wait. I cancelled Prime today.

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u/faux_glove Mar 06 '25

I keep telling people that the flaw in the Republican system is that it requires our active and willing participation. You don't have to throw your life away with violence to defeat them, you just have to stop buying anything you don't need, and source what you do need from local community stores and thrift shops first! 

It's not even hard. It just requires y'all to stop measuring your self-worth in how expensive your shoes are.

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u/mollymcbbbbbb Mar 06 '25

I'm very excited to cancel my Prime membership (for good). I've realized how much less garbage I didn't need that I'd just been mindlessly buying from Amazon because it was convenient and free shipping, but I've cut way down over the past few months and feel much better about my shopping habits. Also glad to find out I get to keep my digital purchases, kind of sad to lose the Prime streaming services though. Oh well!

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u/Medlarmarmaduke Mar 06 '25

Prime streaming was nice but I figured I should cut back on streaming services anyway to cut expenditures

I kept Disney and Hulu and that’s enough for now- I can wait for a deal or just sign up for a month or two at other streaming platforms and then quit

But Amazon is never going to be back in the mix- nor is anything I can avoid that I can that is Bezos affiliated

Some things are on Amazon cloud infrastructure- and I can’t do anything about that at this moment

Do what you can do is my motto

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u/Miyatz 29d ago

Did you know you can order something from Amazon and have it delivered to an amazon locker, then wait and don’t pick it up and they will take it back and refund you?

You don’t even have to do anything, but you take time from them arranging and delivering the product, you take up space in a locker for a few days, and you take time from them arranging and processing the return and refund.

You’re out some money for a week or two until you get it all back, and Amazon have spent quite a few man hours handling your request, and there’s probably some bank charges involved along the way for them.

Boycotting doesn’t give them any money, but doing this actively costs them. At some point they’ll probably ban your account but if you’re planning on boycotting anyway what’s the harm?

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u/AgentCirceLuna Mar 06 '25

It’s pretty scary how they have all this money yet they still want MORE MORE MORE. I really think they have no self worth and just think money is all that counts.

As for whether they’re afraid of war or think they can escape to bunkers as people think, I believe they really are scared of it because money is just some virtual thing to them. A toy. I doubt they want the whole world to be destroyed.

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u/yfunk3 America 29d ago

I never understood how dumb billionaires can be. They're the ones building secret underground bunkers for when society collapses without realizing that you need a society where money actually fucking matters and you have the "poors" who give you the lavish, comfy lifestyle that your money gives you. Morons.

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u/Weekly_Rock_5440 Mar 06 '25

Can we also blame damn near 50% of our voters who found a way too look past the moral corruption of a convicted felon and serial rapist who incited an insurrection against the government to stop a free and fair election from being certified by congress.

And can we also blame the extra 90 million eligible voters who decided that they were either too busy, to disinterested, or that “everyone is the same” and decided to fuck off altogether?

Can we please, pretty please, give them some of that blame too. I am just too pissed at everyone. . . everyone.

I have to stop posting. Where’s the Advil?

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u/ILikeCutePuppies Mar 06 '25

Also, can we blame the Republican party who used voter suppression to reduce millions of democrat votes? It's less than 90 million that didn't vote. Many of them were prevented or had their ballots tossed, more so this election than any other.

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u/Suyefuji Mar 06 '25

This! I had to make a shitton of phone calls and an appointment to get my voter registration sorted like 2 weeks before the election. I'd been registered to vote since I was 18. Steaming pile of bullshit.

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u/John_Smithers Mar 06 '25

Every time I've gone to vote I've had to re-register beforehand. Almost forgot to double check before the last election, it sucked.

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u/SillyGoatGruff Mar 06 '25

If it makes you feel any better, even though your country still feels the need to coddle the non voters and not hold them accountable, the rest of the world sure does heap the blame on them too

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u/SdBolts4 California Mar 06 '25

Australia has the right idea: fine people who don't vote. You don't have to vote for anyone (i.e. you can submit a blank ballot), but make election day a holiday and require businesses to give time for voting and we'll have voter participation in the high 90s. Makes it significantly harder to rig any election as well because then you have to actually change votes instead of submitting votes on behalf of non-voters

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u/charlesgegethor Mar 06 '25

Maybe this isn't well known outside of the US, hell its probably not exactly a well known fact in the US, republicans don't want people to vote. I forget the exact figure & description of this, but the gist is that the greater the voter turnout, the larger the percentage of votes for the democratic party.

So, republicans have done everything in their power to make it as difficult to vote as they possibly can, because the fewer people they get to vote, the better their numbers are. So they use as many tactics as they can to make it harder for voters to register, and to invalidate as many ballot as they can. And even then, they gerrymander the districts to be as beneficial as they can. If the voting in this country was actual fair and representative, the republican party probably have ceased to exist.

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u/TheCleverestIdiot Australia 29d ago

We get that, the Conservatives here are trying really hard to backpedal on the mandatory voting and the time off that comes with it.

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u/ProfessionalITShark Mar 06 '25

Or one better, non-participant voters count intrinsically as none of the above.

If none of the above wins, nobody wins, run elections again next month, different candidates.

It becomes the interest of those running for office to make sure people vote at all.

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u/TheArmoredKitten Mar 06 '25 edited Mar 06 '25

That would imply not voting as a valid form of protest. I've heard of one country that actually suspends your right to vote for one election cycle if you fail to vote when otherwise eligible and able. Something about losing the choice in the future makes it tangible what can happen if you don't assert your rights early and often. A blank vote is a blank vote, but you have an obligation to go out and submit it however you can.

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u/TheCleverestIdiot Australia 29d ago

People get pissed when you take an option away from them, even if they didn't plan to take the option in the first place.

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u/ax0r Mar 07 '25

you can submit a blank ballot

You don't even need to do that. The workers at the polling locations have lists of everyone registered with the electoral commission in that electorate and in all the electorates surrounding it. All you have to do is have your name checked off. You can refuse to even take the ballot papers and just turn around and leave.

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u/bizarre_coincidence Mar 06 '25

I've read some statistical analyses that suggest that votes were changed. In particular, in the county the analysis was for, they found that the the distribution of votes for Trump or Kamala were different depending on whether or not an individual machine got more or less than 600 total votes. This suggests the machines were programmed to switch votes only after a threshold was reached, which would make them seem fine if small batch tests were used to audit individual machines.

Was there actual tampering with the voting machines? I don't know. It would certainly explain some comments made by Elon and Trump, or explain why exit polling was inaccurate the last few elections. But honestly, the suggestion that something like this might be possible should necessitate that we only use voting machines that leave a paper audit trail, and that hand recounts are mandatory, even if the votes aren't close. The voting machines can give us an initial count, but they cannot be trusted with the final say.

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u/ThatMizK Mar 06 '25

Maybe you should start heaping it on the guy who has admitted publicly on the record multiple times that the election was rigged. Does no one remember that, or ... like seriously what is going on? No one ever talks about it and constantly talks like the guy was actually legitimately elected. 

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u/Automatic_Ad7602 Mar 06 '25

The election was rigged from the beginning by Elon Musk and his supporters. He bought himself the presidency! If you don’t think so then take a look at the back ballot count and explain how Donald Trump supposedly won in a bunch of districts where Democrats won overwhelmingly in the local elections.

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u/UrbanDryad Mar 07 '25

As an American who vigorously supported Harris, I feel like an outlier for saying I still feel responsible for everything Trump does. I'm a US citizen. I'm part of this collective.

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u/curiousjosh Mar 06 '25

Wasn’t even 50%

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u/fury420 Mar 06 '25

What's the value in nitpicking that 0.2% difference?

They explicitly said "damn near 50%" and 49.8% is pretty damn close.

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u/LiquidAether Mar 06 '25

It's to push back against the republicans bullshit claim that the majority wanted Trump and that he has a mandate to rule.

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u/Automatic_Ad7602 Mar 06 '25

If we could only convince the dumb that they made a very ignorant choice voting for Trump.

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u/A_Night_Awake Mar 06 '25

He said it twice even.

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u/rytis Mar 06 '25

And Musk brought a chainsaw on the stage of the CPAC conference last week. What else was he taking credit for than job and spending cuts with that farce reenactment?

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u/SuperCool101 Mar 06 '25

Really, they should be framed as "Republican initiatives" and "Republican policies" . Democrats should be blasting the GOP for these efforts, every chance they get.

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u/standardsizedpeeper Mar 06 '25

It’s interesting though because I think it’s powerful to leave a graceful exit if you want people to exit. You call them Trump policies so republicans can take the off ramp and say oh they support Republican ideas but trump got hijacked by Musk and these things aren’t Republican.

But then what do you do with these people that did go along with it this long? It’s kind of a pickle.

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u/7ddlysuns I voted Mar 06 '25

Guy with massive ADHD suddenly realizes his latest hobby isn’t fun anymore and now everyone mad at him for blowing up the neighborhood

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u/PathOfTheAncients Mar 06 '25

Don't blame any of his behavior on ADHD. World is full of ADHD people who aren't cruel, immature, power hungry, sadists.

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u/adhdepot Mar 06 '25

Most of the ADHD people I’ve met are closer to empaths than psychopaths 

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u/TheCleverestIdiot Australia 29d ago

Psychopath with ADHD then?

Actually, no. Most psychopaths have short attention spans anyway. Comes with a constant need for stimulation.

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u/Lonely-Painting-9139 Mar 06 '25

Maybe he got an extra scary death threat.

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u/remotectrl Mar 06 '25 edited Mar 06 '25

That’s why he keeps his son around.

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u/GWsublime Mar 06 '25 edited 29d ago

No he's just loosing enough money for it to be concerning while also staring down the barrel of being accused if contributing to the upcoming recession/depression

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u/zubbs99 Nevada Mar 06 '25

Hey he said "There will be mistakes." It's just like I tell my boss, or the cop who pulled me over, or the IRS ... I just shrug my shoulders and they let me slide!

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u/WitBeer Mar 07 '25

Nah, he straight up said what it was. He scared of someone taking him out.

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u/buadach2 Mar 06 '25

16,000,000 armed veterans in the US no longer being looked after by 80,000 fired VA employees…

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u/pimparo0 Florida Mar 06 '25

I'm pretty sure that was the addresses to Congress, sotu happens after the first year, not in inauguration years.

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u/Eleven_inc Mar 06 '25

It's almost like Trump just dropped DOGE recognition on Elon intentionally to remove himself from any fallout from the mismanagement and cuts caused by it.

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u/dustinhut13 Mar 06 '25

Bingo! Just like him publicly thanking Roberts.

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u/bugsyboybugsyboybugs Mar 07 '25

And saying anything that goes wrong with foreign relations is on Rubio.

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u/ExtremeKitteh 29d ago

He wouldn’t do that to a friend now would he?

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u/GoodGoodGoody Mar 06 '25

Wasn’t a SOTU address - those are constitutionally mandated - but Trump did praise DOGE and Musk in his suit hammed up the you’re welcome worse than an off-Broadway hack.

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u/eriverside Mar 06 '25

These people are narcissists. They are allergic to accountability. Taking responsibility for things is for other people.

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u/Dry_Ass_P-word Mar 06 '25

Idk, they very well may try and claim Biden made these cuts and maga will believe it without hesitation.

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u/Nightshade_Ranch Mar 06 '25

Oh right, the DOGE. The DOGE headed by Elon. The DOGE specifically created to be headed by Elon. Elon's DOGE.

That DOGE??

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u/myquest00777 Mar 06 '25

A few attorneys were frantically scribbling notes in real time as POTUS affirmed that designation TWICE.

Very interesting given that the government’s attorneys denied that fact to a federal judge’s face just a few days ago. First denying knowledge of who even ran DOGE, and then in a later submittal pointing to the former USDS head who, when contacted by media, was on administrative leave, was baffled by the questions, and was sitting on a Mexican beach. 🍿

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u/Starfox-sf Mar 06 '25

He wanked off his chainsaw and left stains all over.

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u/boom929 Texas Mar 06 '25

Don't leave out every GOP member that has thus far utterly failed at their oaths to the Constitution and neglected to demand accountability and proof.

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u/TechnologyRemote7331 Mar 06 '25

I said it months ago, but Musk is the scapegoat. If/when things go bad, Trump will throw him to the wolves with no reservations. Better yet, if he can have Musk arrested and his assets seized. Seems like only a matter of time…

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u/suninabox Mar 06 '25

Trump has his scapegoats lined up already.

At his inaugural address he said:

"We have Marco Rubio in charge. Good luck Marco. Now we know who to blame if anything goes wrong."

Rubio is double cucked. Not only does Rubio have no say over foreign policy, not only does he have to go out and praise Trump for doing things Rubio clearly can't stand, but Trump is going to make him eat the shit sandwich when things inevitably go south.

This is why he's not bothered with the "President Musk" gibes. He's ready to throw Musk under the bus for all the shit the oligarchs want him to do.

It's a preset get out of jail free card with the cult. When they complain about losing their jobs and their medicaid, they can say "thank god Trump got rid of that deep state RINO Elon Musk, now we can finally make America great again!"

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u/Possible_Field328 Mar 06 '25

Joe Biden actually secretly designed all aspects of DOGE and they did a multi billion dollar effort (thats where all our taxes went) and tricked, the victim, Elon Musk into creating DOGE.

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u/Putrid-Reality7302 Mar 06 '25

Pretty sure T actually said, “the buck stops with me”.

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u/GhettoDuk Florida Mar 06 '25

I'm getting the feeling that the Heritage Foundation is setting Elon up to be the fall-guy for carrying out their agenda. He gets the blame for wrecking the economy and they are free to continue with their plans.

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u/polaris6849 Kentucky Mar 06 '25

Yep, this is on them

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u/[deleted] Mar 06 '25

Nope, they are just the face of all this.

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u/Danni_Les Mar 06 '25

Exactly - trump spoke how such a 'great' businessman could make things more efficient - so yes, they shall be credited, and will be recorded in history as the greatest fuckups, and the next generation will learn what NOT to do.

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u/CaptainDudeGuy Georgia Mar 06 '25

Take him to task: Ask him who is responsible for it, if not him.

These sorts of personalities are always quick to point fingers and deflect from their own wrongdoing. They literally can't help it.

At best their PR training will have them stammering over a tepid non-answer, which still makes them look weak. At that point they'll go radio silent and hope people forget about it.

Our greatest weapon is the harsh light of the truth. Keep shining it right in their lying faces.

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u/kittenconfidential Mar 06 '25

they can take their dog e bag and go home

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u/DontT3llMyWif3 Mar 06 '25

Wasnt a SOTU

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u/antigop2020 Mar 06 '25

They’re cutting 80,000 jobs at the VA or nearly 20% of their workforce.

They DGAF about veterans or any American who isn’t a millionaire or billionaire!

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u/moldivore Illinois Mar 06 '25

Did the drugs wear off and he realized how much he's fucked things up? These clowns piss me off.

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u/654456 Mar 06 '25

You mean the republican party. don't let those rats that enabled this get away with it

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u/Delicious-Wasabi-605 Mar 06 '25

Not if Fox News and the rest of right wing media has anything to say about it. They'll just stop talking about DOGE and move on to some nice safe issue that gets the cult fired up.

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u/Baxtercat1 Mar 06 '25

Yup. Trump said Elon is doing a great job..

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