Lawrence O’Donnell: Elon Musk manages to embarrass Donald Trump in the Oval Office, even when Musk isn’t there.
Reporter: When Elon Musk met with Prime Minister Modi earlier today, did he do so as an American CEO, or did he do so as a representative of the US government?
President Trump: Uh, are you talking about me? No, Elon Musk. Elon, I don’t know.
Lawrence O’Donnell: He doesn’t know. Joining us now is congressional historian Norm Orenstein. He’s an American scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Uh, Norm, uh, Musk, uh, commandeered the vice president’s residence and sat there like a vice president, uh, with Modi today. He has a lot of business interests in, uh, India, huge market for, uh, Starlink and, uh, other, uh enterprises of his. Uh, and you’ll notice he doesn’t have a kid, uh, crawling on his shoulders. He’s showing the prime minister at least that respect. Uh, I don’t know. I suspect he had some business interests in mind.
Norm Orenstein: You know, it’s all about the grift Lawrence and we, the fact that Donald Trump shrugged his shoulders about whether Elon Musk was operating as a private citizen or in his quasi official capacity tells you everything you need to know about a lack of ethics and about the unconcern with people feathering their own nests, lining their own pockets at the expense of the American people. And, but, you know, it’s not even close to the most shocking thing that we’ve seen even today. Uh, it’s just disgraceful.
O’Donnell brought this up at the end of his show, speculating and opining about it for only a few minutes.
Lawrence O’Donnell said “uh” 11 times in 30 seconds. How does O’Donnell know Musk embarrassed Donald Trump? O’Donnell only showed 2 seconds of Donald Trump’s answer.
I keep hearing the people on MSNBC say that Musk is lining his pockets. Yet, this narrative ignores a critical reality: Musk could have far more easily maximized his personal wealth by avoiding political involvement altogether, especially by not endorsing Trump or taking on an unpaid advisory role in the White House. His decision to serve as a “special government employee” without a salary demonstrates a willingness to forgo personal gain for a cause he believes in, a fact conveniently overlooked by his critics.
Elon Musk did not “commandeer” the vice president’s residence; he met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Blair House, the official guest house for dignitaries, not the vice president’s residence, as a private business leader, not in any official capacity. While Musk does have business interests in India, including Starlink and Tesla, this is a standard practice for global CEOs and does not inherently indicate unethical behavior. The claim of a “lack of ethics” by Norm Orenstein is speculative, as there is no evidence Musk’s meeting was tied to his role in the Trump administration or involved misuse of public resources.
(Hindustan Times)—Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently met tech mogul Elon Musk and his family during his two-day visit to the US. Following their meeting, the PM took to X to express his appreciation for meeting Musk, his partner Shivon Zilis, and his three kids X Æ A-Xii (Little X), Azure, and Strider. The Tesla CEO also responded to the post – his first share on X after meeting the world leader.
PM Modi’s X post:
“It was also a delight to meet Mr. Elon Musk’s family and to talk about a wide range of subjects!” the PM wrote, and he shared four pictures. Two of them show him in conversation with Musk, while the others capture his warm interactions with the kids.Also Read: ‘Elon Musk is a great father’: Fans go gaga as world’s richest man brings children to meet PM Modi
How did Elon Musk respond?
Elon Musk re-posted PM Modi’s X post and shared a six-word reply. “It was an honor to meet,” he wrote. READ MORE AT https://www.hindustantimes.com/trending/elon-musk-s-first-x-post-after-meeting-pm-modi-at-blair-house-in-us-it-was-an-101739514413046.html