Elon Musk, looking back a few months to when he was swinging a massive chainsaw on stage at CPAC and declaring he was wielding a "chainsaw for democracy," now says he thinks the display "lacked empathy."
His remark came in a response Tuesday to a user on X, who commented that the tech billionaire could have accomplished more if he hadn't "acted a fool" while working with President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, reports Mediaite.
"Maybe you shouldn't have taken the chainsaw on stage and acted a fool," the user posted. "Maybe you could have gotten more done if you weren't so worried about looking cool."
Musk responded that the poster has a "valid point," noting that Argentine President Javier Milei "gave me the chainsaw backstage and I ran with it, but, in retrospect, it lacked empathy."
The chainsaw incident, which happened in February, involved Musk, wearing "Dark MAGA" clothing and waving the chainsaw on stage after Milei gave it to him.
At the time, he was hyping his involvement with the DOGE initiative, but now he and Trump are engaged in a feud after Musk opposed the passage of the Trump-backed "big, beautiful bill." The SpaceX and Tesla owner has also claimed he'll form a third political party.
Trump, meanwhile, suggested that he'd turn DOGE against Musk and his government contracts for SpaceX and other companies he owns.
"We might have to put DOGE on Elon," Trump said Tuesday. "You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon."
He also left the idea open of deporting Musk, who came to the United States from South Africa.
"He's upset that he's losing his EV mandate, and he's very upset about it," Trump told reporters outside the White House. "He could lose a lot more than that. Elon could lose a lot more than that."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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