Vice President JD Vance is standing firm in his support of President Donald Trump after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk levied attacks on the president.
Vance made his comments during an appearance on Theo Von’s podcast where the two talked about how Musk claimed Trump was in the Epstein files.
“First of all, absolutely not. Donald Trump didn’t do anything wrong with Jeffrey Epstein. The guy is… whatever the Democrats and the media says about him that’s totally BS,” Vance stated:
Here’s my basic read on it, first of all, I’m the vice president to President Trump. My loyalties are always going to be with the president. And I think that Elon is an incredible entrepreneur, I think DOGE was really good, the sort of effort to root out waste, fraud, and abuse in our country was really good. I’m always going to be loyal to the president and I hope that eventually Elon kind of comes back into the fold. Maybe that’s not possible now because he’s gone so nuclear, but I hope it is.
Musk has also criticized Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” after the House of Representatives voted 215-214-1 in May to pass the tax and spending bill, Breitbart News reported on Tuesday. The tax break package contains extending tax cuts passed in 2017, doing away with taxes on tips, more money for defense and border security, and making government healthcare programs more accountable.
When speaking about the bill, Vance said, “I think it’s a good bill and it does a lot of good for the American people. Elon’s entitled to his opinion. I’m not saying he has to agree with the bill or agree with everything that I’m saying. I just think it’s a huge mistake for the world’s wealthiest man, I think one of the most transformational entrepreneurs ever, that’s Elon, to be at war with the world’s most powerful man who I think is doing more to save the country than anybody, and I’m 40 years old, than anybody in my lifetime.”
“I mean, think about it. It’s a guy who, not even a year ago nearly took a bullet in the process of campaigning. Went back on the horse the next day. And if you look, obviously I’m biased, but you look at what we’ve done on the border, you look at what we’ve done with trade, fighting back against a generation of theft of the American Dream, which is what the president’s trade policies are starting to do. I just think you’ve gotta have some respect for him and say, ‘Look, we don’t have to agree on every issue.’ I’m talking about if you’re Elon Musk. We don’t have to agree on every issue. But is this war actually in the interest of the country? I don’t think so,” he said.
A source familiar with the matter and what happened the day Vance was a guest on the podcast said the vice president was with Trump when the back and forth between the president and Musk began, and Trump encouraged Vance to speak diplomatically in regard to Musk when giving public comments.
On Wednesday, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Harrison Fields said during an appearance on the Alex Marlow Show that Musk’s criticisms of the bill are born out of his allegiance to his companies.
“There’s no daylight between this White House and Elon Musk. Elon Musk has his priorities, and this White House and this president have their priorities. We may not be aligned on this issue; but let me tell you this, we’re grateful to Elon Musk for the work that he was able to do for this administration,” he stated.
Trump has since floated the idea of canceling Musk’s government subsidies after he claimed he singlehandedly got the president elected in November and accused him of lacking gratitude, per Breitbart News.
The outlet published an article on Friday highlighting several reasons why Americans should not trust Musk over Trump.
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