Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) called Elon Musk the “most unlikeable person” in the U.S. during a Thursday speech in support of his party’s push to oust the tech giant from his White House role by May 30.
The Tesla CEO livestreamed himself playing the video game Path of Exile 2 on Saturday from his private jet, touting Starlink’s wifi signal, but he quickly ended the video after receiving a string of hateful comments.
“I mean, the man can’t even go and play video games anymore because people that he’s playing with are all harassing him online, and so he is himself feeling more and more isolated, he’s posting less on [social platform] X, he’s distancing himself a little bit more from the administration, and I think that he understands that he’s the most unlikeable person in this country, so we’ve got to continue that pressure,” Garcia said during Thursday’s press conference.
A group of 77 lawmakers, led by Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), sent a letter Wednesday to President Trump, emphasizing the tech billionaire can only serve in his role as a special government employee for 130 days.
Garcia said Republicans too are souring on Musk, after the billionaire failed to swing a Wisconsin judicial race in the party's favor, though he appeared to incorrectly suggest Musk was not at Trump's Cabinet meeting Thursday.
“You’re seeing other Republicans being a little bit more comfortable in criticizing Elon Musk. I believe there was a Cabinet meeting, I think maybe today. Who was not there? Elon Musk,” Garcia told attendees.
“And so there’s no question that since Wisconsin, Elon Musk himself knows that he is becoming a more toxic brand,” he continued.
Musk spoke during the Cabinet meeting, appearing to revise down estimate savings from his cost-cutting efforts at the Department of Government Efficiency.
Democrats took a victory lap after Musk's preferred candidate in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race lost by 10 points, despite the tech magnate dropping some $21 million on the race.
“I expected to lose, but there is value to losing a piece for a positional gain,” Musk wrote online after the blowout.
Musk has continued to chime in on major issues facing the Trump administration, for example attacking Trump's trade adviser, Peter Navarro, over global tariffs announced last week that tanked the U.S. stock and bond markets.