Elon Musk slams media for trying to tear him and Trump apart by calling him a 'shadow president'

WASHINGTON, DC: Elon Musk slammed "legacy media puppets" for trying "to drive a wedge" between him and President-elect Donald Trump after several critics questioned their power dynamic amid budget chaos on Capitol Hill.

Many Democrats have questioned whether the tech mogul was the one in charge after he apparently nudged Trump to torch an initial 1,500-page spending bill put together by House Speaker Mike Johnson that would have avoided a government shutdown, according to Mediaite. 

Having said that, a second bill, supported by Musk and Trump, also failed to pass through the House, leaving the lawmakers scrambling at the eleventh hour. 

Elon Musk slams 'legacy media puppets' for trying to tear him and Donald Trump apart

The Tesla CEO's stern message was a reply to an X (formerly Twitter) user who highlighted a post from Rep Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) where she claimed Elon Musk was more in charge of Republicans than the president-elect, and called him the "shadow president."

Jayapal wrote in her post, "It’s clear who’s in charge, and it’s not President-elect Donald Trump. Shadow President Elon Musk spent all day railing against Republicans’ CR, succeeded in killing the bill, and then Trump decided to follow his lead," attaching an edited picture of Musk in the Oval Office.

In response to an X user Lulu Cheng Meservey's reshared post, Musk wrote, "That is exactly the goal. The political & legacy media puppets all got their new instructions yesterday and are now parroting the same message to drive a wedge between @realDonaldTrump and me. They will fail."

Alyssa Farah Griffin predicts 'friction' between Elon Musk and Donald Trump

'The View' co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said that a clash between Donald Trump and Elon Musk was imminent because of their strong individual personalities during the Thursday, December 19 episode of the ABC talk show. 

She made the remarks during the first segment of the episode where the panelists discussed whether the Tesla CEO was calling the shots on government spending after the bipartisan bill failed to pass the House on Wednesday. 

The former White House aide remarked that both Trump and Musk have "main character energy" which made them likely to knock heads. "They both want to be powerful and the people in charge, and I’m not convinced that this alliance is going to be super long-lasting. There’s going to be friction between Elon and Trump," she argued.

Griffin's remark came after her co-host Whoopi Goldberg said Musk "believes he's president" after becoming a part of Trump's inner circle, and asked her fellow panelists, "Who is in charge?"

The EGOT winner added, "I called him (Musk) vice president, I called him president because I don’t know what JD (Vance) Is doing. I hardly ever — I don’t remember the last time we even talked about JD. But it kind of seems like maybe he (Musk) is the president because he got a promotion of some sort that none of us knew about." 

Nevertheless, the government managed to narrowly avoid a shutdown after the House passed a third spending bill, which the Senate approved in the early hours of Saturday. 

Internet sides with Elon Musk as he slams media for trying to drive a wedge between him and Donald Trump

Elon Musk's criticism against the legacy media was echoed by netizens. 

One wrote, "It's a microcosm of their political strategy as a whole—divide and conquer. Single out people and make them feel alone in their beliefs. It won't work anymore," while another added, "There is no way they can come between you and Trump. There is too much at stake, They will fail, like they do all the time."

A person stated, "It's comical, they all sound the same like they all got the same software update at once," whereas one more mentioned, "I beg of both of you do not let them succeed. We need you guys working together. It was crystal clear to me yesterday they were aligned to trigger the division. Fight, fight, fight applies here more than ever. Stay strong."

An individual praised Musk and Trump, writing, "Good !! You guys really are making a difference and they are scared !! Keep calling them out !" "They're trying to instigate conflict between Musk and Trump. We must reject the liberal media and their supposed legitimacy," another comment read. 

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.