Elon Musk has left Washington, DC, and his post at DOGE earlier than many expected. So, what happened? Is Elon still friends with Donald Trump? Did the negative reports that have recently dropped push him out? Or was it something else? Glenn Beck explains why he believes Elon may just be sick of congressional Republicans, who have refused to cut enough spending, despite DOGE’s findings.
Transcript
Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors
STU: Glenn, do you think, when you're looking at the DOGE legacy. When you look at Elon's legacy. And when I mean legacy, I don't mean the actual legacy of what seems like about 40 children at this point.
I'm talking about how he'll be remembered by the public. The DOGE cuts, they're going to send some little sliver of them in a separate bill now, to Congress.
GLENN: Yeah. That pisses me off.
STU: $8.5 billion. Now, of course, it's much harder to pass a separate bill, and it's only $8 billion. Who do you blame for this?
GLENN: The G.O.P. The G.O.P.
STU: What does that mean?
GLENN: I think that very few of them are serious about it. Some of them are.
You know, Mike Lee is very serious about it.
Rand Paul is very serious about it.
STU: Chip Roy. Thomas Massie.
GLENN: Chip Roy.
Massey. They're all serious about it. But there's a handful of them. And the rest of them, you know, are either too stupid to get it.
I mean, we've spent a lot of time on our debt this week.
And what it means, and what's coming. If we don't get serious about it.
And there's $190 billion that -- that Musk, you know, said, we can cut all this stuff.
And nobody wants to do it. I mean, if you can't -- if the Republicans can't cut the easy stuff, what good are you?
Really, honestly, what good are you.
I mean, there should have been. It would have been nice to get to 900 -- 900 billion. Or a trillion dollars in cuts.
That would have said to the world, we're serious. And it would have put us on a completely different course.
Than the one we're on right now.
And, you know, Donald Trump is going to do his best to grow us out of this. To set up the conditions for AI and everything else. And bring manufacturing back here to America, yada, yada.
To try to grow our way out of this debt. But you have to cut. And, you know, I'm just sick of the Republicans. Just sick of them. Sick of them.
Okay. So wait a minute. You needed to have the House and the Senate, and the White House.
Well, you've got all three.
Now, what is your problem?
You don't have a big enough spread.
You're not doing anything.
You're not doing anything.
STU: Well, they're continuing much of the spending from the Inflation Reduction Act.
That's something.
That's --
GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.
You can't cut that out.
You can't cut that out.
You can't say, we're going to go back to the spending that we had in 2019.
You can't do that.
STU: Yeah. Or at least -- we'll even increase the spending for all of the programs that existed when Joe Biden took over.
But the stuff that he passed, that is brand-new. That people aren't used to. And depending on for years and years and years and years. We will get rid of the rest of the spending from those programs.
You can't even do that?
GLENN: No. You can't -- you can't --
STU: That's horrible.
GLENN: The money that hasn't gone out, you can't say, we're not going to send that out. You can't even say that.
STU: You can't say that. Some of that -- some of that, they pulled back on.
That's true.
And, of course, there are a lot of good things in this bill.
I think you would agree, at least continuing the tax cuts. I know we would both like more.
If you let those expire.
That would be devastating to the economy.
GLENN: Devastating.
STU: What do you make of the criticism from some.
This goes mostly towards the right, who are more hawkish on the budget. And such.
That look, it's true.
Republicans did not put this in this bill.
But Donald Trump could demand this is in this bill.
And there's no sign that the Republicans would not take him on up on what his demand was. There's no reason to believe they say no to him, if he would demand it.
He's not made a big deal publicly, pressuring lawmakers to include the DOGE cuts.
GLENN: Yeah. So I do have concerns about that.
I mean, you know, he should have pushed harder for that. I agree with that.
I'm not sure that the Republicans would have gone along with it.
Because, you know, if you -- you -- you do have a -- an argument, first of all. You cut. You have all of those Republicans, that are part of the game there.
And have their favorites. And they don't want anything cut.
Okay? Sorry, gang. Everybody will have to lose something.
I think if he would have made this his priority. Priority. It would have -- it would have happened.
But I don't think that is his priority.
It -- his priority is elsewhere.
And there are some things in this bill, that will strengthen his priorities, for instance, tariffs.
And that was, you know -- he was more focused on that, and I think more hopeful that maybe the Congress would do their job.
And they would care about the spending.
But he's not a guy, ever, that has ever talked about debt or deficit.
He has not believed there is ever a debt or deficit that is too big.
He believes that the problem is that the economy is not roaring.
So let's open the economy.
And we will make that money in tax revenue, and we will be able to afford these things.
I don't happen to believe that.
I believe it to some degree.
I think we have to -- we must make cuts. But that's never been his thing.
Tariffs always happen.
He's never talked about the debt and deficit to any real degree.
It's not his thing.
STU: Yeah. And that's not -- he didn't run on that initially. I mean, he cares about that, at some level.
GLENN: Republicans have. Republicans have. Yes.
STU: Over and over again.
Let me ask you about the Musk relationship there.
Elon, there's definitely, I think, a clear effort by the media to portray this departure by Musk as this adversarial sort of situation. That they are -- they have grown apart.
They don't like each other anymore.
There's been leaks about Trump saying that he was angry at Musk for trying to get some briefing on some China issue.
You know, that -- that, you know, a lot of the people inside the White House didn't like Musk.
And some of that -- yeah. That certainly is true at some level.
GLENN: Yeah. Yeah.
STU: Do you think that they still get along?
Is there this separation?
GLENN: Yeah. No. I think those two get along.
They're thick as thieves.
I think they are in many ways, two peas in a pod. They understand each other, unlike I think a lot of people could understand either one of them. And I think they are friends.
What's interesting, he's, what? A month away from his July 4th goal?
He said he was leaving in July. He said, I hope to have this done by July. And, you know, I'm not going to be staying for very long.
And then on the anniversary, next year, July.
We'll have cut X-number amount.
He's -- he's a month away from this July.
And I think he just got frustrated.
And I don't necessarily think -- necessarily with the president.
Maybe. But I don't think.
He just got very frustrated.
Like, nobody is serious.
Why would I take all the hits that I'm taking right now. Why would I put my car company in danger.
SpaceX in danger. You know, risk the reputation to everything that I hold sacred and dear.
To do all of this hard work, and sleep on the floor.
I mean, he was sleeping on the floor. To sleep on the floor, to right the ship on this.
And nobody is serious.
Screw you.
I think that's where he is.
That's where I would be.
Screw you. I'm not doing it anymore.
STU: I think that's part. Also, we're talking about some of the people in the White House.
In the surrounding apparatus that don't occasion don't appreciate Elon Musk.
Some of that has been public.
A lot of it has been behind the scenes. You're now getting, that's departing. The hit pieces.
Things being leaked about Musk. The recent one today, this is in the New York Times, that Musk was using drugs at high levels.
Listen to this.
Listen to this paragraph. Mr. Musk's drug consumption went well beyond occasional use. He told people he was taking so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he was affecting his bladder. Known effect of chronic use. He took ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms, and he traveled with a daily medication box that held about 20 pills. Including ones with the markings of the stimulant Adderall, according to a photo of the box, and people who have seen it.
Now, how many people have taken photos, Glenn, of your medication box?
I would say that's not common, unless it was trying to destroy you in the media.
GLENN: Right. Right.
STU: So, I mean, is that what this is, basically?
Everyone who had a problem with Musk, while he was there.
Now that he's out, they all believe he can leak stuff negatively to the press, to destroy stuff.
GLENN: Let me give you another perspective on why they're trying to destroy him.
The people in the White House.
In a situation like this, and really any real powerful situation.
You -- everybody jockeys for a position.
I want to be next to the boss.
I want to be next to the boss.
STU: Yeah.
GLENN: A new guy has come in, has not played the game.
Nobody really knows who he is.
He doesn't may by the rules. And he'll just go right into the White House.
And he will walk right into the Oval. And say, yeah. I didn't talk to any of those guys.
Listen, I want to talk to you about this.
That must drive the career people, out of their ever loving mind.
It's got to drive them crazy!
What is he -- what is he saying to the president?
We've been working. All of us have been working so hard to get the president to go, this, this, and this.
What did he just say?
What did he say?
That's the real problem, I think the people in the White House have with Donald Trump.
Is his access. And his ability to connect with Donald Trump, one on one, without any filter in between.
They like filters.
People like filters. Between the -- the top and access to the top.
STU: Oh, we learned about this with Joe Biden.
When he was president. Even his own cabinet secretary.
GLENN: Yeah. Yeah. Love that filter.
STU: Yeah, different kind of way to do it.
Is there a part of this that is just germane to the way Trump has kind of constructed his White House. Which is like, you know, a lot of good things come out of it.
Where he has a bunch of different sort of factions. Right?
And he has a bunch of people around him who really --
GLENN: You mean like a team of rivals?
STU: A team of rivals.
He has that. And I think, at its best, there are really good things that come out of that, right?
When people who really care about the country, are arguing the best things.
The best policies, to go forward. The best approaches.
On the downside. There are always people out there, just out there to cut people's throat. So they can get closer to Donald Trump. So they can have that access.
Is that what's going on partially?
GLENN: Yeah, I think so.
I think Elon Musk is probably pretty pissed because he realized, a lot of people aren't serious.
And I just risked a lot.
You know, if Donald Trump got in. And all the people that he trusted, that he put around him. And they're all like, no. We're with you, 100 percent.
And was it the same kind of situation it was last time. I think he would be pissed. I think he would be really pissed. You know, who the hell can I even really trust?
Now, he risked his life. I think Elon Musk is risking his life to stay.
But he's certainly risking his career. And his companies.
And everything.
All around the world. He's got a bad name now. And I -- I just think, you know, if I'm risking my life, my fortune, and my sacred honor, and none of you are serious, I would say, screw you, in a heartbeat. And I think that's really what it comes down to, myself.