Why did Elon Musk pretend to "step down"?

[kentuck]

Because he is not really stepping down. He was in the Oval Office with Trump and the regime when Trump was dressing down the South African leader.

But he is "pretending" to step down because Republican leaders have whispered to Trump that Musk is making them very unpopular when they go home. He has become a lightning rod for all the unfavorable policies being pushed by Trump.

Republicans are hoping that they will be better received if Elon is out of the picture.

But, their real problem is Trump and his incompetence. Their problems will not disappear with Elon Musk.

Their problem is the abdication of their job as Congressmen.

[Irish_Dem]

1. Musk and his kid hackers till have control of the federal workforce. And all the data.

[Fiendish Thingy]

2. He has stepped down

His time as a Special Government Employee, limited by law, ended this week. (The event with the South African leader was before that)

While he may have ongoing input and access to Trump, he no longer has any authority regarding DOGE or any other government agency.

[kentuck]

3. Was DOGE ever an official "government Agency"?

Rules are made to be broken and nobody breaks rules better than Trump and Elon. They are accountable to no one.

[Fiendish Thingy]

5. Trump has lost 96% of court cases against his current administration

Stop buying into the myth that Trump is omnipotent and the states and the people are powerless.

Musk and DOGE attempted to act with impunity, but the courts have intervened in many instances and reversed those actions.

The damage and chaos from DOGE remains, and will continue until repaired by a future Dem administration.

[kentuck]

8. I agree but...

The chaos and confusion created with such speed will take some time to clean up. It is a disaster.

[misanthrope]

12. How many of those court rulings have been followed?

It would be within the realm of expectation for the administration to ignore the courts and do as they wish. Do we have evidence the rulings are being followed?

[Fiendish Thingy]

13. Do you have evidence they haven't been followed?

With the exception of the Garcia case, and the timing of some of the deportation flights, there has been no open defiance of any court ruling, AFAIK.

The Trump administration has definitely played things coy and cocky, but other than the exceptions noted, haven’t defied any rulings.

Numerous federal employees who had their jobs cut by DOGE had their jobs reinstated, the private Peace organization is back in business, etc.

Of course, there are many instances of cases being appealed and rulings being stayed while the appeals are pending, but that isn’t the same as open defiance of the courts.

[cbabe]

4. Tesla pressure

Observer
https://observer.com › 2025 › 05 › tesla-investors-demand-elon-musks-full-time-attention

Tesla Investors Demand Elon Musk Work 40-Hour Weeks as EV ... - Observer

1 day agoAs Elon Musk Exits Washington, Tesla Investors Demand He Work 40-Hour Weeks as CEO A coalition of pension funds is pressuring Tesla's board

[GoodRaisin]

6. Would you want to be associated with a rich man who takes food away from starving children?

That alone is a good reason for lying about him being disassociated, much less all the other stuff he has done, threatening social security, etc. Nobody likes him.

But, yeah, it’s another lie. Everything that comes out of their mouths are lies.

[ProfessorGAC]

7. Two Things

First, he is stepping down. Major investors who hold the bulk of TSLA stock that he doesn't (about 4.5x of what Musk owns) have told the board that enough is enough.
Second, there was nothing really to step down from. He was an unpaid "advisor" & they achieved nothing of their supposed mission, aside from some penny antenna labor costs, a big chunk of which is temporary.
Either way, he's done with government "work"

[bucolic_frolic]

9. It is all by design

imho, Trump, or whoever is backing Trump, used Eloon to do the dirty work of government destruction. That grabbed the headlines. Now that everything is broken or stolen, Musk takes the blame and Trump says he did a great job MAGA.

[kentuck]

10. It is reported that Elon lost a lot of money in this role....

...while Trump made oodles of money, more than all other presidents combined.

[bucolic_frolic]

11. lol, that is a poignant and timely observation

Maybe old man Trump has something on Elon!

[KentuckyWoman]

14. Puts him off the grid

So double duty. He can ramp up the tomfoolery with less eyes on him and also takes some heat off the GOP media wise.