MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell mocked Donald Trump over the joint press conference the president held with DOGE chief Elon Musk on Tuesday afternoon, claiming the world’s richest man left Trump “humiliated” and “powerless” when it was all said and done.
Musk, with his four-year-old son in tow, held court during the impromptu presser where it was revealed that Trump was handing the Tesla CEO even more unprecedented power to dismantle federal agencies and slash the government workforce. Dressed in a T-shirt and “Dark MAGA” ballcap, Musk – without providing any evidence to back his claims – claimed he had already uncovered billions of dollars in waste and fraud.
Throughout his comments to the press, which were interspersed by the mugging antics of “Lil’ X,” Musk repeatedly downplayed his own vast conflicts of interest when it comes to government spending while shrugging off the false claims he’s peddled about USAID funding – specifically, the debunked assertion that the agency had sent $50 million of condoms to Gaza.
“Some of the things that I say will be incorrect and should be corrected. So nobody’s gonna bat a thousand,” he said. “I mean…we will make mistakes, but we’ll act quickly to correct any mistakes.”
During the opening monologue of Tuesday night’s broadcast of his MSNBC primetime show, O’Donnell largely focused on the optics of Musk commanding the media’s attention in the Oval Office while Trump sat behind the Resolute Desk.
MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell says a photo of ballcap-clad Elon Musk holding his son on his shoulders while Donald Trump sullenly sat at his desk is the “most powerless image of a president ever.” (MSNBC)
Claiming the president is throwing out “nonsense” about taking over Gaza or annexing Canada to “distract the news media from” his large-scale funding cuts, O’Donnell said “the person who is helping him do that stood over Donald Trump in the White House today, thereby delivering a picture of presidential subservience the likes of which we have never seen.”
Calling it the “most powerless image of a president of the United States ever created by a camera,” the Last Word host pointed to a photo of Musk holding his son on his shoulders as a seemingly sullen Trump glowered at his desk while aides Stephen Miller and Will Scharf stood off to the side.
“There it is. In that shot, Elon Musk is doing everything he possibly can to tell the world, without saying a word, that Donald Trump is not the boss of me,” O’Donnell declared. “Donald Trump is the boss of the other adults in that shot, Stephen Miller and Will Scharf.”
He added that while Scharf and Miller were “following Donald Trump’s lead” by wearing suits and ties, Musk showed he “could do whatever he wanted” by showing up in a T-shirt and cap.
“And today, Elon Musk decided that he wanted to outdo all of his fellow tech billionaires who frequently show up in T-shirts,” O’Donnell continued. “And so he violated another norm of business meetings at the White House and business meetings in a lot of places by bringing one of his 11 children – it was like bringing a dog to the home of a person who hates dogs. And we all know how much Donald Trump hates dogs.”
Additionally, the MSNBC star said Musk further demonstrated he “can do whatever he wants” by dominating the conversation within the Oval Office.
“When Donald Trump is your boss, you don’t bring your kid into a business meeting with Donald Trump. And when Donald Trump is your boss, you don’t talk more than Donald Trump,” he proclaimed. “In a business meeting with Donald Trump, Elon Musk spoke 3666 words. Donald Trump spoke 2487 words.”O’Donnell concluded: “Mike Pence never had a day like that in the Oval Office with Donald Trump. JD Vance will never have a day like that in the Oval Office with Donald Trump, because Donald Trump is the boss of JD Vance.”
