‘100% Stupid’: MAGA World Is Cautiously Turning on Elon Musk

Much of the right-wing media ecosystem appeared unsure really to respond to nan seeming nationalist implosion of nan narration betwixt President Donald Trump and Elon Musk connected Thursday and into Friday morning. Outlets and influencers that typically respond savagely to disapproval of Trump played nan spat much aliases little down nan middle. Even overmuch of nan disapproval of Musk was comparatively genteel.

“He's gotta fto Trump beryllium Trump,” erstwhile Fox News big Eric Bolling said connected Steve Bannon’s broadcast network, Real America’s Voice. “You tin beryllium First Bro,” he said of Musk, “but you can't beryllium de facto president.”

Behind nan scenes, they show WIRED, Republican operatives could not thief but beryllium entertained astatine nan torrent of messages flooding their group chats. They tended to return Trump’s side.

One Trumpworld advisor tells WIRED that nan full section reminded them of a statement successful a caller Wall Street Journal report, astir really Trump had privately described Musk arsenic “50% genius, 50% boy.”

“After today,” nan advisor says, “I deliberation he’s conscionable 100% stupid.” (Musk did not instantly reply to a petition for comment.)

While Musk had been railing against nan Republican fund reconciliation package formally known arsenic nan One Big Beautiful Bill Act for respective days connected X, things turned ugly erstwhile Trump denounced nan billionaire during an Oval Office quality connected Thursday pinch nan German chancellor Friedrich Merz. “Elon and I had a awesome relationship,” Trump said. “I don’t cognize if we will anymore.” Musk subsequently agreed pinch an X personification who called for nan president’s impeachment.

Still, immoderate presented nan conflict arsenic a affirmative thing, moreover while calling for it to end.

“I deliberation nan awesome point astir this is we each spot it,” said Fox News big Greg Gutfeld. “Would you return a forceful president and a billionaire publically feuding successful nationalist complete an invalid president? … At slightest I cognize what is going on, and I tin somewhat bask it, but I want them to stop. I've had it. I don't want to spot my parents fighting.”

By Friday morning, Fox & Friends cohost Brian Kilmeade was hoping for an extremity to nan animosity, suggesting location could beryllium a “big, beautiful truce.”

While galore successful nan broader Trump conjugation appeared hesitant to perpetrate to 1 broadside aliases nan other, this wasn’t existent of everyone arsenic Thursday afternoon’s bevy of rude posts bled into nan night. After Musk posted “@realDonald Trump is successful nan Epstein files. That is nan existent logic they person not been made public,” immoderate MAGA loyalists were shocked. Alex Jones, though—the right-wing talk power big and conspiracy theorist who called nan Sandy Hook schoolhouse shootings a hoax and was sued for defamation and recovered liable by default—wrote that Trump “needs to respond asap.”

One of nan MAGA-verse’s astir salient accounts, Catturd, past went aft Jones. “What a POS Alex Jones turned retired to beryllium - what a fucking fraud,” he tweeted. (Jones did not instantly reply to a petition for remark sent to InfoWars.)