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Orange Palpatine's Perfect Shield; Elon Musk. The Democrats Should Stop Falling For It [1]
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Date: 2025-02-06
If there is one thing wannabe Mussolini is allergic to, it's accountability. With attention on Elon, the felon president is getting exactly what he wants.
The Democratic Party has long had a political target on Elon Musk. And while there can be much debate about this villain origin story, there's not much debating that Democrats have been increasingly focusing on the actions of Mr. Musk. With his declining approval ratings and increased involvement in government affairs, Musk has become an ever brighter lightning rod for controversy. But there’s a fundamental flaw in the Democratic strategy—Musk isn’t the one in charge. He isn’t the one making the final calls. He isn’t the one the American people elected. So why do we keep trying to hold him accountable while allowing the felon in the oval office to escape scot-free? In fact, Elon's approval ratings are falling faster than Trump's… Which is kind of the point. Elon is taking the hit. Nothing could make Trump happier. In fact, having other people take the fall for his actions is kind of his thing.
For years, the standard in American politics has been that leaders are held accountable for the actions of their subordinates. When the Afghanistan withdrawal turned into a catastrophe, the blame didn’t fall on individual generals or defense officials—it fell squarely on President Joe Biden. No one claimed that the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was the real person to hold responsible for the deaths at Abbey Gate. The logic was simple: the commander-in-chief owns the consequences of his administration’s decisions.
Yet now, in an unprecedented move, Democrats are targeting an unelected private citizen as if he were the primary person in charge of government policy. Musk, through his role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), certainly wields influence, but he is not the president. His role exists because Donald Trump allows it. If Musk has access to sensitive information, it’s because the president and his administration granted it. If Musk is influencing national policy, it’s because Trump allows it.
So why are Democrats wasting their energy on Musk instead of Trump? Because Musk is an easy villain. For years, he has been the subject of criticism from progressives, making him a convenient boogeyman. But this tactic is not only ineffective—it’s counterproductive. Musk thrives on controversy. Every attack from Democratic leaders only bolsters his image among Trump’s base as a martyr of the establishment’s wrath.
If Democrats truly want to neutralize Musk’s influence, they need to change their approach. Instead of aiming at Musk, they should focus on Trump himself. If they want Musk out of the equation, they need to make Trump pay a political price for his reliance on Musk. If Trump’s poll numbers take a hit because of Musk’s actions, the notoriously thin skinned president will act swiftly. Trump is nothing if not transactional, and if Musk becomes a liability rather than an asset, he’ll be discarded in short order.
The bottom line is this: Elon Musk is a distraction. If Democrats want to win, they need to go after the person who actually holds the power—Donald Trump. Until then, their attacks on Musk will do little more than fuel his legend and strengthen his bond with Trump’s base. It’s time to stop playing into the distraction and start focusing on mitigating as much of this catastrophe as possible for the American people.
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