I’ve been expecting a Republican civil war for quite a while. On several occasions, it looked like civil war might be breaking out, but Trump always steamrolled his intraparty opposition. It’s hard to maintain a civil war when both sides profess to love Trump, and Trump leads one side.
But over the last day or so, Elon Musk has attacked Trump more directly than almost anyone within the party has had the guts to do since 2016. Even Nikki Haley tiptoed around Trump’s deep character flaws and record in the 2024 Republican primaries, calling him “the right president at the right time” along offering tepid criticism that Trump was “thin-skinned and easily distracted… didn’t do anything on fiscal policy… really spent a lot of money,” and was “weak in the knees when it comes to Ukraine.”
Musk’s problems with the Trump Administration go back to April when he and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent got into a shouting match that Steve Bannon told the Daily Mail got physical.
Bessent reportedly told Musk, “You promised us a trillion dollars (in cuts), and now you’re at like $100 billion, and nobody can find anything, what are you doing?”
“And that’s when Elon got physical,” Bannon said. “It’s a sore subject with him. It wasn’t an argument, it was a physical confrontation. Elon basically shoved him.”
Fast-forward to May and Musk stepped down from DOGE amid rising unpopularity and unfriendly rulings towards DOGE’s work from a number of judges. On the way out, Musk launched a full-scale assault on Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” which not only would increase the deficit much more than Musk had managed to cut, also cuts the electric vehicle tax credit.
One thing led to another and Musk called the bill a “disgusting abomination” and threatened to form a third party. Trump fired back with a threat to cancel Musk’s government contracts, an irony noted by many of the victims of DOGE’s cuts. Not to be silenced, Musk was last seen alleging that “Trump is in the Epstein files” and calling for Trump’s (third) impeachment.
The irony in this looming and potential Republican civil war is that neither side is really Republican. Donald Trump only joined the Republican Party in 2012, and Elon Musk has come to the GOP even more recently. Neither accepts most traditional Republican and/or conservative principles. Musk is assumed to be a libertarian while Trump is a wannabe authoritarian.
These days, however, the Republican Party is firmly on Trump’s side. No Trump position or statement is too inane, illegal, or extreme to drive a wedge between The Donald and Republicans. But in a closely divided Congress, Musk need only win over a handful of Republican converts to sink the “Big, Beautiful Bill.”
Is anyone on Elon’s side? Well, Thomas Massie seems to be. The spending hardliner seems to have found an ally in Musk’s newfound opposition to the “Big, Beautiful Bill.” Massie was one of only two House Republicans who voted against the bill, which passed by only two votes, which doesn’t put Elon any closer to victory.
For conservatives, there really is no upside. The “Big, Beautiful Bill” is a bad bill that deserves to fail, but even if Musk wins this battle, there are a great number of red flags around the billionaire’s political beliefs. At least, as a native South African, he’s no more likely to become president than Trump is to win a third term.
In situations like this, I’m often reminded of Henry Kissinger’s musing about the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, “It’s a pity both sides can’t lose.” Unfortunately, both sides won’t lose, and I’d put my money on Trump to emerge victorious. The Teflon Don keeps surviving even though he’s been assumed to be down and out too many times to count. People who think they can control Trump usually find their career dissipation lights going into high gear.
Still, Musk has shown more spine in the past few days than the rest of the GOP has shown in the past decade. It’s difficult not to cheer for the guy who seems to have seen the light, that Trump and the MAGA Republicans are gaslighting the entire country.
If not cheering for him, I’ll at least sit back enjoy the show.
“At least, as a native South African, he’s no more likely to become president than Trump is to win a third term”
Don’t tempt the gods.
I am seeing it being calculated that Musk lasted approximately 12 Scaramuccis.
A point of order Master Thornton- Trumps been servilely supported, nominated, endorsed and backed to the hilt by both the Republican Party and the Per publican Party’s voters. I don’t think the notion that Trump is not a Republican really passes the laugh test. Trump is the Party- the Party is Trump. Yes, it really has come to that. Frankly it long ago came to that- probably around the time Mitch decided he didn’t want to cooperate with removal after Jan. 6th.
The World You Have Known Is Gone.
Find Ronald Reagan’s corpse, inject some of that glowing green stuff into it, and revive him. Show him a Republican Party that repackages higher taxes as tariffs, dresses up authoritarian government activism as law enforcement, votes for budget busting spending bloat under the enforcement of a Republican Speaker, and an overtly Russophilic foreign policy.
I am tempted to conclude that Zombie Reagan would say something like, “Not real keen on the labor union thing, but Joe Biden seems like he was a better choice even though he was older than dirt.” (Recall that Reagan knew Joe Biden as mid-ranking Senator.)
The World You Have Known Is Gone.
I am inclined to forgive David for occasionally not fully integrating that realization into his world view and his writing, because it is indeed disorienting.
Not with a bang, but with an apology:
I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far.
Taking notes: President beats the richest man in the world. Should we ever have a Democrat with a spine in that office, this will be a good thing for them to remember.
(lol at the idea of a Democrat with a spine.)