What’s New
Popular right-wing podcaster Steve Bannon said in a new interview that he disagrees with billionaire Elon Musk on “just about everything,” while also giving him credit for his strong support of President-elect Donald Trump.
Newsweek reached out to the press office of Tesla, of which Musk is the CEO, for comment via email on Saturday.
Why It Matters
Both Musk, the world’s richest man, and Bannon, who served as CEO of Trump’s 2016 campaign and as a White House adviser during his first term as president, are key allies of the president-elect. However, Bannon has routinely slammed Musk in the past.
Bannon has previously called Musk a “stone cold liar” and said “his paymasters” are from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), referencing the billionaire’s extensive business ties to the East Asian nation. Those criticisms came in 2023 before Musk was publicly a leading Trump supporter.
What To Know
Bannon reiterated his disagreements with Musk in an interview published by Semafor on Friday but also spoke favorably of how the billionaire had come around to supporting Trump in the election.
“With Elon—look, he wrote a quarter of a f***ng billion dollar check when we had no money, when Trump had no money. He and I are disagreeing on just about everything, particularly China. But he didn’t do what most wealthy people do and got sucked in by the consultant class to do TV ads. This guy came in, with his engineering brain, and said what I’ve been saying: This was a base-plus election. This was all going to be ground game at the end,” Bannon said.
Musk has undergone a public political evolution over the past several years. The wealthy entrepreneur was previously a big supporter of former President Barack Obama, even reportedly waiting hours in line to shake his hand back in 2008. He was also publicly critical of Trump as recently as 2022 when he said the president-elect should “sail into the sunset.”
Nonetheless, Musk’s frustration with Democrats and what he has dubbed the “woke mind virus,” led him to embrace Trump and his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement over the past year. He reportedly gave some $277 million in order to help get Trump elected while also touring the country and campaigning with him in the weeks leading up to the November election.
In the Semafor interview, Bannon also touted what he views as the need to raise taxes on the wealthy, something that puts him at odds with Musk.
“We have to increase taxes on the wealthy. For getting our guys’ taxes cut, we’ve got to cut spending, which they’re gonna resist. Where does the tax revenue come from? Corporations and the wealthy,” he said.
Meanwhile, Trump and Musk critics have suggested that the world’s richest man is the one actually calling the shots—not the president-elect.
What People Are Saying
Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “It’s clear who’s in charge, and it’s not President-elect Donald Trump…” The congresswoman went on to describe Musk as the “Shadow President.”
Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, posted to X on Thursday: “The Speaker of the House need not be a member of Congress…Nothing would disrupt the swamp more than electing Elon Musk…think about it…nothing’s impossible.”
Fox News‘ Fox & Friends co-host Lawrence Jones said Friday morning that he had spoken with Trump, saying that the ongoing taunts of “President Elon Musk” from Democratic members of Congress do “not bother the president.”
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen how Musk’s and Bannon’s disagreements will play out moving forward. In the interview, Bannon noted that there are a diversity of views within Trump’s movement and predicted an internal struggle.
“In President Trump’s house, there are many mansions. You’re going to see a fight. You’re going to see a fight from the populist right. If you look at 2024 as just a win for Trump, he’ll be here for four years, and we’ll figure out what happens after,” he said.
The post Steve Bannon Disagrees With Elon Musk on ‘Just About Everything’ appeared first on Newsweek.
