The Deeply Unshocking News About Elon
Plus: Trump breaks up with the Federalist Society
An Economy of Whim becomes an Economy of Whiplash as the tariffs that were on are off, then on, then off, then on….
A battered and diminished Elon Musk leaves DC to complete his transition from Master of the Universe to Zoolander; while his ex-daddy figure rages about China, fumes about chickens, lashes out at judges, and breaks bad on his old chums at the Federalist Society. And the Supreme Court strips protections from a half-million migrants…
But let’s start with our daily dollop of blasphemy, shall we? ICYMI: the naked emperor has other pretensions he would like to share with the world:
Co-opting a famous phrase from the 1980 John Belushi-Dan Aykroyd classic The Blues Brothers, Donald Trump posted a cryptic meme on Wednesday night declaring that he is “on a mission from God” which also features an alt-right symbol [Pepe] in the background.
Showing the president walking down a dark city street, the image includes the caption “nothing can stop what is coming.” While the meme itself could be interpreted as the president’s response to the U.S. Court of International Trade striking down the majority of his “Liberation Day” tariffs, it was the image’s inclusion of Pepe the Frog – and the fact that it originated from a “groyper” account – that has drawn the most attention.1
We admit that we’re tempted to simply roll our eyes, but David French reminds us that this sort of thing “is incredibly dangerous --- Trump is infusing his own megalomania with delusional divine sanction. Christians should find this borderline blasphemous. Instead, all too many agree . . . and cheer.”
Happy Friday.
Speaking of Musk…
Who could possibly have seen this coming?
This morning’s NYT reports: “Elon Musk Juggled Drugs and Family Drama on Trump’s Campaign Trail.” Naturally, I’m providing a GIFT LINK and charging it to my Schadenfreude Account.
The Times reports that former DOGE Lord’s “drug consumption went well beyond occasional use.”
He told people he was taking so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that it was affecting his bladder, a known effect of chronic use. He took Ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms. And he traveled with a daily medication box that held about 20 pills, including ones with the markings of the stimulant Adderall, according to a photo of the box and people who have seen it.
Drug tests? Those, apparently, are just for the little people.
As a large government contractor, his aerospace firm, SpaceX, must maintain a drug-free work force and administers random drug tests to its employees. But Mr. Musk has received advance warning of the tests, according to people close to the process. SpaceX did not respond to questions about those warnings.
But the drugs are only part of the story. I am, of course, not a medical doctor, but the technical term for Musk’s condition, I believe is: “Deeply Fuqqed Up Syndrome.”
He plays video games for hours on end. He struggles with binge eating, according to people familiar with his habits, and takes weight-loss medication. And he posts day and night on his social media platform, X.
There are also the Nazi salutes, the messy personal relationships and cascading babies whom Musk, apparently, thinks will someday populate Mars.2
Of course the shocking thing about this shocking new report is that it’s not shocking at all if you’ve been watching Musk’s decompensation over the last few years, even as he was wielding chainsaws and wreaking havoc through the government. At times his dysfunction has been on glaring display. Remember this from February? “Elon Musk Rants Incoherently in Sunglasses While X Shadowbans His Pleading Baby Mama.”
Musk wore sunglasses, a Texas-style belt buckle, a black-on-black MAGA hat, and a gold chain. He didn’t take off the sunglasses for the entire interview and his body-mic picked up the flopping and rubbing of the gold chain as Musk nervously twitched and gesticulated during the conversation.
“I am become meme. There’s living the dream. And there’s living the meme,” Musk said to the audience after he sat down. “DOGE started out as a meme. Think about it. And now it’s real. Isn’t that crazy?”…
Schmitt asked how Musk found himself on the right side of the political spectrum. The billionaire blanked, like a computer program stuck in a recursive loop.
Some of his former friends have been warning us for months.
In a January newsletter explaining why their friendship had ended, Sam Harris, a public intellectual, wrote that Mr. Musk had used his social media platform to defame people and promote lies.
“There is something seriously wrong with his moral compass, if not his perception of reality,” Dr. Harris wrote.
Exit take: Keep in mind that until about 5 minutes ago, Musk was effectively the Co-President. What could possible go wrong?
The end of yet another big, beautiful friendship
Trump’s “friendships” always come with an expiration date don’t they?
But pay attention to this one: Amidst his ranting about his mounting court losses, Trump is lashing out at the architects of the conservative judiciary, the Federalist Society. This, from Politico, is amazing:
The president, in a post on his social media platform, slammed Leonard Leo, the former chair of the Federalist Society, calling him a “sleazebag” who “probably hates America.”
It was a striking characterization of Leo, who played a key role in working with Trump to shape the conservative Supreme Court.
“He openly brags how he controls Judges, and even Justices of the United States Supreme Court — I hope that is not so, and don’t believe it is!,” Trump wrote.
Trump’s attack came after the U.S. Court of International Trade on Wednesday struck down his tariffs, a massive blow to the primary pillar of the administration’s economic agenda. The ruling was temporarily stayed by an appellate court on Thursday. One of the judges on the three-person panel that blocked the tariffs is Timothy Reif, who was appointed by Trump in his first term.
The blame, Trump said, lay with the Federalist Society.
“I am so disappointed in The Federalist Society because of the bad advice they gave me on numerous Judicial Nominations,” he wrote. “This is something that cannot be forgotten!”
Exit take: Trump’s break with the Federalist Society probably means that we’ll be getting more deplorable picks like this one: “Trump nominates his former defense attorney Emil Bove to serve as appellate judge.”
And this:
Friday dogs
Auggie and Eli watching for mom to come back from the store.
[The] “mission from God” meme parrots the long-running belief among QAnon adherents that Trump has been given a calling to secretly root out a cabal of cannibalistic pedophiles from within the government and liberal ruling class, and that soon the “storm will be coming” that will see the mass arrests of prominent Democrats and celebrities.
Trump, who has regularly posted memes and video clips that were created by QAnon conspiracists and far-right extremists, appears to have done the same thing with this particular post.
The far-right corner of the meme tags the Truth Social account @FruitSnacks, who appears to be a “groyper,” otherwise known as a supporter of notorious white supremacist Nick Fuentes. The person, who also has an account on X with the same FruitSnacks handle, has regularly reshared posts from Fuentes and a news account associated with the virulent antisemite. Of course, Trump infamously dined with Fuentes and Hitler-boosting rapper Kanye West at Mar-a-Lago in 2022.
How messed up is this? From the NYT:
…One of his former partners, Claire Boucher, the musician known as Grimes, has been fighting with Mr. Musk over their 5-year-old son, known as X. Mr. Musk is extremely attached to the boy, taking him to the Oval Office and high-profile gatherings that are broadcast around the world.
Ms. Boucher has privately complained that the appearances violate a custody settlement in which she and Mr. Musk agreed to try to keep their children out of the public eye, according to people familiar with her concerns and the provision, which has not been previously reported. She has told people that she worries about the boy’s safety, and that frequent travel and sleep deprivation are harming his health.
Another mother, the right-leaning writer Ashley St. Clair, revealed in February that she had a secret relationship with Mr. Musk and had given birth to his 14th known child. Mr. Musk offered her a large settlement to keep his paternity concealed, but she refused. He sought a gag order in New York to force Ms. St. Clair to stop speaking publicly, she said in an interview.
You know all these drip-drip-drip revelations about Musk also reveal something we might do well to pay more attention to in our culture--the assumption by many that just because a person has a 'genius' IQ and has managed to amass great sums of money he is a sane and worthwhile contributor to society. NOT.
I suppose the drug use explains Musk's very odd behavior in Wisconsin when he tried to buy one of our recent elections. Thankfully we needed no such artificial stimulants in order to see through him and throw him out the door with his dignity in tatters. You're welcome.
One remaining question: are there laws against operating chainsaws in an utterly irresponsible manner when high on substances? If so, please prosecute and whatever fine is levied, make that money go to the many people so irresponsibly displaced from their government employment.