Musk Tells CPAC Leading DOGE Is ‘Cool’ and ‘Awesome’

Billionaire Turned Government Cost-Cutter Also Slams Left for Making Comedy Illegal

WASHINGTON — Yes, there was a chainsaw — a gift from Argentine President Javier Milei — and the odd pair of sunglasses that made him look a bit like Officer Barbrady from “South Park,” but the main takeaway from Elon Musk’s appearance at CPAC this past week was just how much of the “tech bro” remains in the man both celebrated and reviled for his efforts to slash government spending.

“I’m just living the dream, pretty much,” he told NewsMax host Rob Schmitt moments after his entrance was greeted with an extended standing ovation in the main ballroom of the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center at National Harbor.

“I mean, DOGE started out as a meme,” he said of President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. “Think about it. And now it’s real.

“It’s crazy, but it’s cool,” Musk added.

As he spoke, scores — perhaps hundreds — of people in the audience of about 3,000 popped up from their seats to snap quick cell phone photos or videos of the Trump administration’s biggest celebrity — after the president himself, of course.

Schmitt, meanwhile, lobbed one softball question after another at his guest.

For instance, he asked Musk how he would’ve reacted had someone told him a year ago that he’d be addressing CPAC and working with the president “to absolutely shred the government swamp.”

Musk quickly admitted he wouldn’t have believed it.

“But it’s cool. This is awesome,” he said.

“And thanks for your support,” he said acknowledging the CPAC faithful in the audience, prompting an explosion of applause.

“It feels good to get good things done,” he said, adding in an unexpected pivot, that it’s also important to “have a good time” and “you know, like, a sense of humor.”

“I mean, the left wanted to make comedy illegal. They can’t make fun of anything. Their attitude was, like, ‘comedy sucks’ and ‘nothing is funny’ and ‘you can’t make fun of anything.’ Let’s legalize comedy,” Musk said.

“You shifted the entire culture,” Schmitt said, gamely trying to bring the conversation back to DOGE.

“In just the last few months, the whole culture shifted dramatically … just because of the election,” he said.

“Yeah, exactly,” Musk agreed. “Freedom of speech having won the game, it seems like you should have a good time, even a great time.”

“Everybody in this place is so excited,” Schmitt said. “When you talk to conservatives, everybody’s happy, and everybody feels this great sense of relief because we were going to hell for the past four years …”

“I thought it was sort of heading for a point of no return,” Musk agreed. “That’s why it was so essential that Trump win the election and that there be a Republican Senate, which is nice.”

Having pulled the conversation back to the realm of politics, Schmitt noted that for a long time, Musk has tried to stay out of the fray and was more or less politically neutral.

That changed early on in the 2024 presidential contest when Musk initially threw his support behind Florida Gov. Ron Desantis.

In fact, DeSantis launched his ultimately failed presidential bid on the platform formerly known as Twitter with Musk acting as moderator on the social media site he’d just purchased.

Smith didn’t mention the flirtation with DeSantis, instead jumping directly to Musk’s embrace of Trump and his MAGA movement.

“You’ve chosen a side,” Schmitt said. “Was there a moment that it all changed for you?”

“Yes, the moment when I realized I had been a fool,” Musk said to more applause.

“I mean, I guess I had been politically neutral for quite a while, leaning a little toward the Democrats, but then they went crazy,” he said.

“That whole cancel-culture [that developed on their watch] … it’s trying to stop freedom of speech and, in general, infringe upon people’s personal freedoms. It seemed to me, over time, that all they wanted was state control … of everything,” Musk continued.

“And my feeling was, we need to restore the fundamental elements that made America great, which are freedom and opportunity,” he said.

“My goal prior to getting involved in politics was to do useful things,” Musk said. “I basically just want to build products and provide products and services that are good. I’m not someone that was really that interested in being critical of the federal government … but at some point, you just have no choice.” 

Musk’s efforts to scrutinize and ultimately dismantle the federal bureaucracy has proven to be a lightning rod for critics upset by what they see as his heavy-handed approach to workforce reductions, programmatic changes, and grant and contract cancellations.

This past weekend he angered some of his own colleagues in the administration by sending an email to all federal employees ordering them to summarize in an email their accomplishments for the week or be removed from their positions.

By Monday, a number of Trump-appointed officials at a number of government agencies — including the FBI, and the Defense and State Departments, told their employees not to respond.

Last week, Schmitt asked Musk what it was like to go “from neutral to being vilified.”

“You mean like having people chanting for my death?” Musk said, trying to dispense of the question with a joke.

“Look, people love DOGE,” he said, inspiring another rebound of loud applause from CPAC attendees.

“Everybody in this country knows that the government is full of waste, fraud and abuse,” Musk continued.

He went on to blame the animosity and vitriol aimed at him on the reporting of “legacy media companies” he claims have a vast stake in preserving the bureaucracy due to the “massive amount of real tax dollars” that go to them annually.

“That’s why you see things like them filling the frame of a picture with like, six people, and saying, ‘See, DOGE doesn’t have popular support.’

“But the truth is, there’s nobody else there … all they have are those six people … meanwhile the vast majority of Americans are outraged to learn that hundreds of billions of dollars each year are doing to these so-called NGOs [NonGovernmental Organizations], funding things that are fundamentally anti-American.

“And yes, massive amounts of real tax money are going toward propping up these legacy media companies,” he said. “This explains why the news reports from these companies all say the same thing at the same time. They’re mouthpieces for the state.”

Musk was also asked to address talk surrounding a proposed plan to send a $5,000 stimulus check to every eligible taxpayer funded by a portion of the savings achieved by DOGE.

Musk confirmed that the proposal is real, and said he’s spoken to the president who is “supportive” of the idea.

Calling the found money “the spoils of battle” Musk said given the president’s support “it sounds like something we’re going to do.”

“You know, people ask me, ‘What’s the most surprising thing that you’ve encountered since you’ve arrived in DC?’ And what I always tell them is the most surprising thing is the scale of expenditures, and how actually easy it is — just by asserting a level of caring and competence that was absent before — to save billions of dollars.”

Even without the stimulus checks, he added, “the savings we’re going to achieve are going to lead directly to a reduction in taxes.”

And yet, Musk, in Schmitt’s words, is something of a “wanted man” around the nation’s capital.

“Are you concerned about your personal safety?” he asked.

“Well, I don’t actually have a death wish,” Musk said, adding with a smile, “I’m open to ideas for premium security.”

“But seriously, it’s not easy. I got a call from President [Nayib] Bukele of El Salvador, a guy who has managed to put something like 100,000 murderous thugs in prison, and he says, ‘I’m worried about your security.’ I mean, that makes you stop and think.

“But at the same time, the threats and so forth, the angry rhetoric, are par for the course,” he said. “I mean, obviously, there are people out there saying ‘You guys are screwing with things that are not supposed to be messed with.’

“We are fighting a lot of people who really don’t want certain things to happen. We’re fighting the matrix big time here, but it has got to be done,” Musk said.

Dan can be reached at [email protected] and on X @DanMcCue