Acosta targets Musk in first netcast since leaving CNN: 'What is his job?'
Former CNN anchor Jim Acosta questioned why billionaire Elon Musk should be handed power to fire federal employees or granted access to sensitive information about American taxpayers.
"What is his job? Who voted for him? He hasn’t been confirmed by the Cabinet or by the Senate to be a part of the Cabinet. And yet he’s been given all of this latitude," Acosta said as part of video monologue posted on his Substack. "And so, I think some key questions have been asked as to what is going to take place moving forward with what Elon Musk is doing inside the Trump administration."
Musk has sparked widespread concern among federal workers and Democrats with his stated interest in cutting large swaths of the government workforce and targeting of U.S. foreign aid programs as part of his role heading up President Trump's "Department of Government Efficiency."
Musk, one of the wealthiest people on earth and one of Trump's largest donors, has railed for months against the "waste fraud and abuse" he says plagues many federal government programs.
Acosta, a frequent Trump critic, left CNN last week after being offered a less desirable anchoring time slot on the network. Trump celebrated the news calling Acosta "one of the worst and most dishonest reporters in journalistic history."
Questions around Musk's qualifications "have to be aimed squarely at President Trump," Acosta said.
The former television news anchor's comments were first highlighted by Mediate.
Trump told reporters at The White House on Monday that Musk would only be allowed to fire people in the federal bureaucracy "if we agree with him and it’s only if we agree with him."
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