Republicans on Capitol Hill attempted to downplay the Donald Trump-Elon Musk relationship meltdown on Thursday as the president went scorched earth on his ex-first buddy for criticizing the “big, beautiful bill.”
The tech billionaire fired back in a frenzy of brutal posts on X where he accused the president of lying, threw his words back in his face and dropped other bombshell accusations.
Their very public breakup throws a heavy wrench in Republican efforts to push the president’s bill tackling his domestic spending agenda through the Senate, but GOP lawmakers did not want to get anywhere near the firestorm between the world’s most powerful man and richest man.
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But on Capitol Hill, there was a different approach: Duck!
In the most Musk move of all, Speaker Mike Johnson rushed past reporters holding a baby in his arms, belonging to his chief of staff—an echo of Musk parading his son, X, who is five.
“I have a rule, I never get between a dog and a fire hydrant,” Senator John Kennedy said when asked about the nasty tit for tat.
“Two biggest dogs in the pound, they’re going to fight a little,” said Rep. Tim Burchett.
“We don’t need to be in a food fight at that level,” said deep red West Virginia Senator Jim Justice.
“[Elon’s] got his feelings hurt or whatever,” Justice argued. “He did a lot of good work, and he really really tried really hard, and he did it for nothing. He really sacrificed a bunch to be able to do that. I get all that and everything, but at the same time, we only have one president.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune appeared to weigh his words as he told reporters before walking onto the Senat floor that he didn’t have an “observation” on the soured relationship. He left it at that even though he did not go unscathed in Musk’s outburst.
The Republican leader has his hands full pushing the legislation through the Senate as lawmakers battle over what to include in their version of the bill, but Thune tried to avoid commenting, even taking another exit out of the Senate chamber as reporters gathered outside.
While some senators ignored questions about Musk all together, quickly stepping into elevators to escape, Musk’s criticism of the bill has not fallen completely on deaf ears.
“My experience with Elon Musk is he’s a patriot. He cares about this country. He’s forever cared about the deficit. He wants a balanced budget. Guess what? I do too. I’m appreciative that he cares,” said Senator Rick Scott as Thursday afternoon’s Trump-Musk war escalated.
As Musk upped his attacks over the bill, he threatened to go after the lawmakers who voted for it, but in the Senate, Scott dismissed concerns over GOP members getting a primary challenger.
“Who’s got the best ideas, they should win,” Scott said. “Elon Musk – he’s got money just like you’ve got money, and you should invest your money with the people that you believe are going to do the best thing for your family.”
The senator, having just won reelection last year, is in a different boat than House Republicans who are up for reelection every two years, but multiple GOP lawmakers downplayed the threat and suggested the breakup was predictable.
Rep. Ralph Norman said he was not concerned about the billionaire spending his money to challenge House Republicans.
“He can use his money wherever he wants, and I admire what he’s used it for so far,” Norman said.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise argued Musk “hasn’t moved a vote.”
After the tech billionaire made the jaw-dropping accusation that the president was in the Jeffrey Epstein files, Republicans dismissed it.
“If President Trump was in the Epstein files, they would have released it during the primary, and they didn’t,” said Rep. Anna Paulina Luna.
House Speaker Mike Johnson spent Thursday morning downplaying the rift with Musk as he played “phone tag” with the former DOGE leader.
By Thursday afternoon, Johnson had become the target of one of Musk’s many posts in which he questioned where the Johnson of 2023 was, retweeting the speaker’s old post about the debt.
It appeared to hit a nerve by Johnson standards. He fired back on social media just over an hour later that he’s the “SAME Mike Johnson who has always been a lifelong fiscal hawk - who now serves as Speaker.”
Even after his post, Johnson continued to praise Musk as a “friend.”
However, one GOP lawmaker could not contain his glee over the breakup with Trump. Rep. Thomas Massie, who has been the target of Trump’s wrath, and railed against the bill had a telling joke as he left the U.S. Capitol.
“I tell my colleagues if I get hit on Independence Ave, and they have to deliver my eulogy to say ‘he was having his best day ever,’” said Massie with a grin.
