DOGE saving less than Musk losing
Elon loses $116 billion from Tesla share drop while claiming $105 billion in government cuts
DOGE has claimed it has saved $105 billion, though it's backtracked on some of its earlier claims.
Tesla’s stock has dropped so much since December that Elon Musk’s net worth has dropped by $116 billion.
Those are headlines from ABC News on Monday and Forbes on Tuesday.
Combined, they paint a bizarre picture: over the past three months, Elon Musk has personally lost more money than the government is alleged to have saved.
Now, you can read the full articles to discover that DOGE has actually saved far, far, less than $105 billion (and that by “saved” they mean “cut, possibly temporarily, and not including the cost of lawsuits and hiring back people to protect nukes and whatnot”), and that Tesla stock could keep falling due to sharply dropping sales in America, Europe, and China.
But we may as well just keep to the headlines: Elon has lost more than taxpayers have saved.
How can we explain this insanity?
This is what his defenders say, according to the WSJ:
… several explanations for his contrarian views, unfiltered speech and provocative antics. They’re an expression of his creativity. Or the result of his mental-health challenges. Or fallout from his stress, or sleep deprivation.
Again, those are Elon’s supporters. Not great!
The public is catching on.
The Democratic firm Blueprint released new polling this morning.1
From mid-November to mid-February, Elon Musk’s net favorability declined from -2 to -9 overall and dropped 14 points among independents.
Will MAGA leaders catch on?
Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden was one of WelcomePAC’s top targets last cycle. He is ultra-MAGA in a district that is not - and almost lost last cycle to WelcomePAC candidate Rebecca Cooke.
Van Orden is a January 6th attendee who “got a bipartisan scolding” after an outburst at high schoolers in the Capitol. The “yelling and vulgarities” coincided with Van Orden’s congressional office door being left open, revealing a wide range of alcohol in various states of consumption.
He’s now under fire for Trump policies hurting farmers. Late last night on CNN, Van Orden started backtracking on DOGE.
Cooke was one of the most over-performing Democratic challengers in the country, even running ahead of popular Senator Tammy Baldwin.
Van Orden is running scared - and running away from Elon.
Who will follow?
For more on the Blueprint poll on how The Democratic Party has lost its way, check out this Politico story.